“What did you just say?” Vinaar asked as her face turned pale with fear.

“I killed the contentum. All of them. Oh, and I also killed a Gregnor.” Raymond admitted before gasps filled the air.

“You have doomed us all then,” Vinaar said as she paced around the mud.

They were just outside of Eslaf, so the living conditions were slightly below optimal. Rot and filth were about as plentiful as the sand and dirt they polluted.

“Knights, capture Raymond the betrayer and his son,” Vinaar yelled.

“So… what do we do now?” Raymond asked casually.

“We find Estella and the others,” Kalos said, but then he felt a strange distortion in the space far above him.

Multiple portals opened in the sky as a strange horn sounded out across the sky.

All of Vinaar’s men looked up in confusion before what looked like a spear of light shot down and struck one of Vinaar’s men in the face, blowing a clear hole through his head.

Kalos looked up and saw several hundred Elafriá descending towards Eslaf, but one of them felt different.

“Umm… are you still going to try and capture us or should we deal with that first?” Kalos asked as serval more spears of light rained down on the city.

Kalosýni’s body convulsed as two extra arms popped out of his back. He was already shirtless, so the process was rather effortless.

Raymond equipped his white armour as Vinaar looked up in terror.

She had seen what the Elafriá were capable of and she knew that most of Eslaf would have been destroyed were it not for Raymond and Kalos.

“Fine! Kill those things, but you’re still coming with us afterwards, understand?” Vinaar asked as many more of her men perished right in front of her as blindingly bright spears impaled them.

“Eminence Vinaar, what should we do?” Quintin asked as he narrowly avoided death by impaling.

“Raymond the… betrayer…” Vinaar’s voice slowed down as Kalos and Raymond began moving faster than she could talk.

“There’s one who’s not like the others,” Kalos said as he pointed to the sky.

There Raymond saw a rather large Elafriá. This one had a large crown over its head and proudly wielded a large hammer.

“I’ll deal with him, you get the others,” Kalos said as he floated towards the large Elafriá. Kalos was about six feet four inches tall, but this creature was a full seven feet tall. It wore a glorious set of armour and its face was hidden behind its crowned helmet.

“I assume you’re the leader-“

“What have you done to my soldiers?” The elafriá interrupted as he raised his hammer using its rather long handle.

“Nothing… yet,” Kalos said before crossing two of his four arms.

"Listen. Before we start fighting, is there even the slightest chance that we could sit down and talk about this before any more lives are lost?” Kalos asked.

“No. You will pay for spilling the blood of the contentum!” The elafriá yelled before violently swinging his hammer towards Kalosýni’s face.

Kalos hit the hammers head with the back of his hand, shattering the metal part into pieces before he slowly floated towards the elafriá, who threw several punches at Kalos, but Kalos easily avoided them by dashing sideways extremely quickly.

The elafriá then gathered all of its magic in its hands before trying to punch Kalos again.

Kalos grabbed the elafriá's hands and shook it roughly.

“Hey! Listen! I don’t want to fight you.” Kalos said.

“Why not? Do you think I’m far too weak? That I’m an insect for your boot to crush?” The elafriá asked as it glared at Kalos.

Kalos sighed before rotating the enraged creature.

“Look. See that man down there? That’s my dad. Is he killing any of your people? No. So calm down.” Kalos said, but he felt the strangest sensation. He looked around but found nothing.

“Do you think I care? You killed our guardians, our protectors, our… Arrg! Just Die! Let me go! Let me go!” The elafriá screamed as it kicked Kalos in the shin several times, but Kalos paid it no mind.

His concern was the mass of darkness towards the edge of Eslaf.

Kalos descended toward it while maintaining his hold on the elafriá.

Kalos then noticed a rather flustered Kraeven standing on a rock with his arms crossed. Next to him stood Taeana and Divon.

Kalos floated just above him and tilted his head in confusion.

“Back so soon?” Kalos asked.

“What in the world are you doing?” Kraeven yelled. His voice contained no malice, but he was irritated for reasons that eluded Kalos.

“Umm… I’m fighting an Elafriá. Wait a minute. Didn’t you say that you were going to tour the realms in search of a method that would help save the world?” Kalos asked as he got kicked again. Kalos then gave the elafriá a head-butt, knocking it unconscious.

“What am I supposed to save if you and your father destroy everything?” Kraeven asked.

Kalos scratched his head with his third arm.

“But… well, you do have a point,” Kalos said with a sigh.

“Exactly. Now, will you let me kill you already?” Kraeven asked with a pained expression.

“Mmm… let’s go find my dad. We’ll talk this out with him and before that happens, I just want you to know that even if we agree, we won’t just expose our necks and let you kill us. Expect a round or two of mortal combat.” Kalos said as he landed on the cold dry ground.

Kalos, along with Kreaven and his entourage, made their way into Eslaf where multiple unconscious elafriá were being restrained or killed by many of the knights within the city walls.

Countless buildings had been partially destroyed by the light spears that bombarded the city earlier and Kalos could see the aftermath of the attack.

Numerous dead were being carried away from the unstable rubble that was once their homes. The others weren’t so fortunate. Kalos saw multiple body parts littering the ground before him. He ignored the squishy sound that came from beneath him as he walked towards Raymond, who was interrogating a captive elafriá.

“Learn anything new?” Kalos asked as his arms returned to his back. This attracted the attention of serval knights and other random people, but they kept their distance as it had become common knowledge that Raymond the betrayer had returned.

Raymond didn’t even bother destroying his armour or removing it as he could almost feel a fight coming.

“No. They’re pissed and they want revenge. Apparently, much like the gregnor here, the contentum were the oldest beings in Nesrafaar.” Raymond said.

“You speak so casually about the death of our saviours. They protected us during the-" Raymond hit the elafriá with the back of his hand, sending several teeth flying out and breaking his jaw.

“What was he about to say?” Kalos asked as an impatient Kraeven approached Raymond.

“They’ve all repeated the same thing. Something about the realms and how they constructed the giants to protect themselves. Other than what the prophecy told us, I think that there might be something far more sinister happening behind the scenes. The realms might be trying to influence things here.” Raymond said as he held his chin in thought, but a fake cough from Kraeven snapped Raymond out of his trance.

“Anyway, there is a simple way to stop all this and save what’s left of this realm and ultimately, this world. You two need to die.” Kraeven said.

“About that… is it possible that dad and I could relinquish our powers?” Kalos asked.

Kraeven paced around for a moment.

“Mmm… that would drastically shorten your lifespans and there’s the bonus that your power would be gone, so yeah. That could work, if only we knew how to take away powers from gods." Kraeven said with a slightly higher pitch.

“You know that idea that I had a while back? Where we connect all three realms. Yeah, I think we should try that.” Kalos suggested.

“Doing that would be problematic if you lost your powers anyway. If you did that then our realms would be merged and we wouldn’t have your or your father to deal with any conflicts that may arise. I may be from Nar' Agrun, but I enjoy peace as much as the next person.” Kraeven said as snow began falling on them.

Kraeven looked at it with great excitement before calming himself.

“The ideal scenario is one where you lose your power and the world doesn’t fall into chaos. Call me a coward, but I’m afraid of what might happen if our realms merged.” Kraeven said with a pained chuckle.

“Mmm… we could pour all our power out of our world,” Raymond suggested as he looked up.

“What do you mean?” Kalos asked.

“Well, it was only for a moment, but I saw… I felt something far beyond our realms and our world. It was a vast emptiness that went on forever. I think if Kalos and I went out there and let out all of our power, we could potentially drain ourselves of most, if not all of our magic.” Raymond said, leaving everyone silent.

Several knights then approached Raymond and the others before raising their spears.

Raymond rolled his eyes before turning to Kraeven.

“But, we’ll only do it after taking care of the elafriá. Ok?” Raymond said.

“Sure, take your time,” Kraeven hissed as particles of darkness gathered around him and his entourage.

“Going back to Nar' Agrun?” Kalos asked.

“Well, yes. But I also want to observe Nesrafaar. I could’ve sworn it was beautiful, but I couldn’t tell as your father was mercilessly beating me at the time.” Kraeven said with a smile before disappearing.

“Halt! Raymond the betrayer and Kalosýni the blue!” Quintin yelled.

“Kalosýni the who?” Kalos asked as about twenty knights surrounded him and his father.

“I order you to come with me,” Quintin said with a raised nose.

Raymond could see fear in his eyes, but masking that fear was an air of bravado.

“Listen, you’ve tried to capture me before and that didn’t work out so well. Why don’t you help the people who clearly need you.” Raymond said as he spread his arms. Diverting everyone’s attention to the rubble that surrounded them.

“Ok. Now, my son and I are going to see if anyone else needs help.” Raymond said as he and Kalos gently flew off the ground.

“Wait! Adviser Evon wishes to speak with you.” Quintin yelled but Raymond and Kalos ignored him as they flew towards Tolman.

.

..

Peeta was exhausted. Well, mentally so.

He had killed all of the elafriá in Tolman when suddenly, spears of light rained down from the sky.

He did his best to minimize the damage, but it wasn’t enough. He spent far too much time killing the elafriá, so many innocents were lost.

Peeta sat by an old stool near the knight's barracks. He tried his best to avoid meeting the gazes of the wounded and confused.

Peeta sighed.

He honestly expected this much once he found Raymond. He’d been searching for years and-

“Peeta!” Crimwal called out from his driver’s seat as that o so familiar carriage made its way to where Peeta was.

Peeta was clad in pure black armour, so he was pretty easy to spot. He got up and greeted the aged Crimwal as the carriage came to a stop.

Crimwal hopped off the carriage and gave Peeta a big hug before sighing.

“What did we get ourselves into, huh?” He asked with a warm smile.

Peeta felt that warmth within his heart before Crimwal’s face twisted into a frown.

“Raymond and Kalos are going to get us killed someday, so here’s my plan: let’s run away and raise little Keema to become a great warrior who’ll protect her beloved uncles, yes?” Crimwal asked, his voice laden with desperation.

“If I remember correctly, you chose to come along on this journey. No point chickening out now.” Peeta said as he hopped onto the carriage.

Crimwal joined him before looking around at the damaged town of Tolman. He then patted Peeta on the back before slowly exiting Tolman with Alis and his group as they followed closely behind.

“So… do you think Raymond and Kalos are ok?” Crimwal asked.

“Mentally or physically?” Peeta asked as they made their way down the mountain. The path was treacherous, so bumps were common.

Crimwal snuck a glance into the carriage and found a grumpy Estella, before chuckling.

“Mentally.” He said as they rode down.

“Well… Raymond was broken by his own son. I could see what he was trying to do, but Kalos isn’t an ordinary child. Raymond thought that if he hit Kalos hard enough, he’d be able to instil in him the motivation needed to protect his loved ones. But Kalos wouldn't react in the way Raymond except.” Peeta said as they hit a bump. A soft oof noise could be heard coming from inside the carriage.

“He thinks very differently from the way you and I do, so when Raymond pushed him over the edge, Kalos fell wholeheartedly. He then embraced that which his father wanted to teach him. The concept of sacrifice is quite a delicate subject, but Kalos understood that at some point, he’d have to make a choice and he’d need the resolve to make it.” Peeta said as the sun slowly set.

“Raymond was once the same. When the order found out that Kalos was a singing child, they ordered him to kill it, but Raymond easily chose his family over us. The only problem is that the bastard ended up taking my arm and the lives of a thousand men.” Peeta said with a pout.

“So Raymond gave up his knighthood for his family and Kalos is willing to kill to save his family, but that doesn’t explain why he literally killed Raymond. Several times at that!” Crimwal said.

“Well… I suggest you ask Kalos the next time you see him.” Peeta said before he felt an incredible amount of power approaching them. Well, to be entirely honest, Peeta could sense it the entire time, but it was getting closer.

Peeta looked up and saw a half-naked young man with blue hair and a white knight.

“Well, well. Look who’s come to join us on our descent.” Peeta said as Raymond’s armour disappeared. Raymond then sat next to Peeta as the carriage rode along while Kalos carefully opened the carriage door. He then entered the carriage before Eevana handed him his clothes.

Kalos got dressed before letting out a sigh. He then took a deep breath before looking at Estella and Eevana. Neelae just sat there quietly as she thought about what had happened to Tolman.

“I- Hey,” Kalos said as he forced a smile.

Eevana placed her hand on Kalosýni’s back and slowly rubbed away any anxiety he might have been feeling.

Well, that’s what her plan was.

“What’s wrong?” Estella asked.

Kalos winced as he thought about what Kraeven and his father discussed.

“Well… Dad and I might die after this.” Kalos said bluntly, shocking Estella, alerting Neelae and silencing Eevana.

They then sat in silence for a while as the carriage rode along.

“Are you saying this because of what Kraeven said? You know that there’s a chance he’s lying to us, right? Maybe he’s trying to trick you into letting go of your powers and who knows. Maybe he truly is the dark lord.” Eevana said as a rare frown formed on her head.

“Eevana-"

“No, Kalos. You don’t just randomly say something like that and expect me to calmly accept it!” Eevana said.

“I know that Kraeven is suspicious, but dad and I haven’t lowered our guards once. After we take care of the elafriá situation, dad and I plan to release our power into what dad described as the void. This will theoretically leave us drained of our magic...” Kalos said as black tears ran down Eevana’s eyes.

Tears welled up in Estella’s eyes as she stopped rocking the sleeping Keema.

“Doing this will leave us in a weakened state and may take away years off of our lives,” Kalos said as his throat tightened.

“Hehe, that kinda makes sense as we’ll be practically draining our essence into the void,” Kalos said as his face twisted. He desperately fought back the urge to kneel and apologize for even starting this conversation.

“Isn’t that a little unfair?” Estella asked as her lips trembled.

Kalosýni’s chest began to ache terribly as he looked into Estella’s eyes.

“I want you to be there and help us raise Keema. I don’t think I would be able to do anything without you.” Estella said before folding up and crying. Neelae gently wrapped her arms around the weeping Estella as Kalos turned to Eevana.

“Kalos. Listen to me, because I’m only going to say this once. I don’t care what state the world is in or whatever Kraeven says. You will be the last of us to die." Eevana said, her voice low. Almost as if she was giving Kalos an instruction.

Kalos grabbed her and pulled her towards Estella and Neelae.

They hugged each other for a while as the night blanketed the sky.

Kalos then ripped himself away from the group hug before hopping out of the still moving carriage. He carefully closed the door before flying above the carriage.

He could see Ianndor in the distance as a black splotch in his vision and the Iann river as a long black string to the west.

Kalos then descended towards the driver’s seat, where Crimwal and the others sat. They would have been frozen solid if it wasn’t for Kalosýni’s magic barrier, which was especially useful to Crimwal, who didn’t possess a magical bone in his body.

“Dad,” Kalos called out.

“Yes?” Raymond asked.

“I don’t want to die.”