“I don’t want to die either. But what do you propose we do?” Raymond asked.

“We could go to Nar' Agrun and see if Kraeven is right and the dark realm is full to the brim like he said,” Kalos suggested, but Raymond shook his head.

“No. Time works differently down there. One day down there is like seven up here. Estella and the others would be long gone by the time we figure everything out.” Raymond said as they rode towards Ianndor's northern entrance, only to see that the main gate had been destroyed and several parts of the city’s walls were broken.

Kalos ascended slightly before noticing that a large portion of the city had been destroyed.

“Oh…” Kalos said as they approached the gate where numerous people were gathered.

It looked like they were trying to sift through the debris in search of bodies.

Crimwal took the carriage off the path before turning to Raymond.

“Looks like those elafriá gave the knights around here a tough time as well,” Crimwal said as he hopped off the carriage.

Alis and his group dismounted their horses before joining Crimwal as he walked towards Ianndor, along with Raymond and Kalos who notified Eevana of their departure.

They carefully entered the city to find that the inside hadn’t faired too well either.

Crimwal led Raymond and the others to his mother's place, but a wounded man grabbed Reeca by her arm as he wept.

Everyone turned to see that he had a dead woman in his hands.

A perfectly circular hole could be seen in her chest and copious amounts of blood dyed her dress.

“Please save my wife. You’re a knight, aren’t you? So please do something!” The man asked as he wailed.

Crimwal and the others remained silent as the man slowly let go of Reeca. His face twisted as he was overcome with hatred.

“Good for nothing knights.” The man said before falling to his knees and gently rocking his the corpse in his arms.

The group then continued walking and their walk revealed the aftermath of the elafrián attack.

Raymond narrowed his eyes as he saw the countless dead.

The group eventually arrived at Kalnae’s base of operations only to find it deserted and destroyed, but something separated it from the other broken buildings.

Multiple pieces of furniture were missing and even the door was gone.

Crimwal looked at Olif, who stood behind Trevenor, but Olif shrugged his shoulders before Crimwal entered the building.

Inside, Crimwal saw that almost none of his mother's original furniture was present.

Everyone remained silent as they ascended the short flight of stairs. The group then found themselves on the second floor where an open door hung.

Crimwal entered the room before coming to a complete stop.

Raymond and the others entered only to find what had stopped Crimwal in his tracks.

“Crimwal…” Raymond tried speaking but the words wouldn’t come out.

Crimwal slowly walked towards his mother before falling to his knees.

He placed his hand on hers and clasped it tightly in search of the warmth he’d known it to have.

Raymond and the others then noticed that the last of Crimwal’s hairs finally turned white as his body trembled.

“Mom?” He called, but Kalnae didn’t respond.

Raymond tried walking over to Crimwal’s, but his legs wouldn’t move.

“Mom, I did it…” Crimwal said as his voice echoed in the empty room.

All of its furniture had been removed. All but the luxurious leather chair Kalnae sat on.

“I met the most wonderful group of people and they showed me the most amazing things," Crimwal said as his voice threatened to leave him.

“And I kept my promise mom…” Crimwal said as he shook.

“I came back.” He said.

“I came back home!” He yelled before Kalos ran to his side.

Kalos then gently wrapped his arms around the much smaller Crimwal.

“I came back home!” Crimwal cried as he violently shook.

“Why won’t you scold me for leaving?” He cried into the night.

Crimwal continued to cry as Kalos held him.

Raymond then realized that if he hadn’t fought with Kalos, then they’d have arrived in Ianndor a day earlier, even if they still had to deal with the elafriá.

Everyone then heard the sound of movement, prompting everyone, Kalos included, to draw their weapons.

They then saw a small, dirty man hiding behind the wall that led to the balcony. The man shook with fear after noticing the various weapons Raymond and company wielded and so he tried jumping off the balcony, only to be caught by Raymond.

Multiple pieces of jewellery and other items fell from his hands as Raymond picked him up.

“What happened here?” Raymond asked. His words burnt the small man's skin as they were laden with magic.

“I was- Uh- protecting these things for you. Here take them if you want!” The man squealed.

“Where did everything else go?” Raymond whispered.

“Everyone took their share and left.” The man said as his eyes shook.

Raymond turned to Crimwal who was still crying before turning to the others, but no one said anything.

Raymond walked toward the balcony before leaning backwards while internally charging his body with magic.

“Wait! What are you doing?” The man asked before Raymond launched him into the sky.

Kalos gently coated Crimwal with magic as he noticed that Crimwal’s health was rapidly deteriorating.

He made sure to fix what he could but there was a limit to what he could do.

Raymond walked back to the group.

Everyone remained completely still and they let Crimwal weep.

Raymond then noticed that someone else was crying. He turned to find Reeca’s face wet from fallen tears, but something else caught his attention.

Raymond walked over to Alis and leaned towards his ear.

“Where is your other friend?” Raymond asked, prompting Alis to look behind him.

“He ran away,” Alis said. Both he and Raymond could detect his life force as he got further and further away.

Raymond then walked over to the balcony before jumping off and dashing towards where Olif ran.

Raymond caught up almost instantly, startling Olif as he was raised in the air by an enraged Raymond.

“Where do you think you’re going? Wasn’t Kalnae your boss?” Raymond asked, but Olif frowned in response.

“So what? Do you actually believe that I worked for her because I liked her? No, we were prisoners! Won’t you let me have my freedom?” Olif asked.

Raymond’s face shifted slightly. He knew that Kalnae was practically Ianndor’s underground ruler, but he didn’t know she was so widely hated.

Raymond slowly let Olif go as he backed away.

“Besides, the bitch had it coming,” Olif said as he dusted his clothes.

Raymond sighed before punching Olif in the face with enough force to blow his head apart.

Raymond quickly returned to Kalnae’s building. He floated up to the balcony to find that Crimwal was in the hands of Alis and Kalos was wrapping Kalnae in a magical barrier.

Raymond remained silent as Kalosýni’s barrier formed a matte grey bubble which Kalos then lifted in the air before everyone left the building.

They made their way back to the northern entrance, only to find the city in an uproar.

Hundreds of people were gathered. One of them stood above them on a barrel as he yelled various things.

Raymond and the others ignored him as they slowly made their way towards the northern entrance.

“The order is to blame for all this!” The man yelled, his voice hoarse and his clothes torn.

“They left there homes for glory and where did that leave us, their own people? Defenceless, alone and abandoned.” The man yelled and his ever-growing crowd responded with angry sounds of agreement.

“And where was the emperor- wait. There are some knights among us. Look there.” The man yelled as he pointed at Raymond and the others.

Raymond sighed deeply.

“They carry their dead as they flee. Look! Right before your eyes! Cowards one and all!” The man yelled as some people began moving closer and closer to Raymond’s group.

Unfortunately for the people around, Kalos wasn’t in the mood for this and so he released a single wave of his magic, knocking anyone who wasn’t powerful enough to withstand it unconscious.

They eventually made it out of Ianndor and Alis gently placed Crimwal into the carriage as Kalos quickly erected a tent, which Alis transferred Crimwal into.

Kalos created a magical barrier around the tent before getting into the carriage.

There he sat in silence for a moment before sighing. He had been crying for some time and was getting a bit tired of being sad. So he tried smiling, but that wasn’t possible.

“What happened?” Estella asked.

“It’s Crimwal’s mom. She… she’s gone.” Kalos said.

Estella lowered her head as Eevana gently rubbed Kalosýni’s shoulder.

Kalos then heard a knock on the window. He turned to find his father by the carriage window.

“Can you help me for a bit?” Raymond asked before Kalos hopped out of the carriage.

Kalos led his father to the bubble where Crimwal rested before stopping.

“What do you need?” Kalos asked as freezing cold winds blew above them.

Alis and his group had already gotten into their tents, so they were fine.

“I want to be with Crimwal, but look at me. Look at us. We’re filthy. Can’t even remember the last time we bathed.” Raymond said with a smile before Kalos took a step backwards.

Kalos then raised his hands as particles of darkness and light gathered around Raymond.

Those particles then attached to Raymond before forming water which completely covered

Raymond before swirling around.

The water then slowly disappeared, leaving a dry and clean Raymond, who wildly squinted as his eyes stung.

“Sorry, forgot to warn you,” Kalos said, but Raymond raised his hand.

“No. It’s fine. Oh and thanks.” Raymond said before entering the bubble.

Kalos sighed before returning to the carriage.

.

..

Raymond stepped into the bubble Kalos had created and gazed with awe at how perfect the conditions within its interior were.

He took a deep breath of the pure air Kalos allowed into the bubble and slowly made his way to the tent.

Raymond looked to the bottom right and saw some canisters of food Kalos had made.

Raymond sighed before taking off his clothes, which although clean, still pestered Raymond.

He then quietly entered the tent where a very small Crimwal awaited.

Raymond did his best to suppress his darkness, but seeing Crimwal like the way he was made that very difficult.

Raymond then sat by Crimwal’s side and ran his hands through his hair.

“Crimwal? Can you hear me?” Raymond asked as he rested by Crimwal’s side.

Raymond then sent all of his darkness deep within him while letting out his light.

He knew very well that his light was capable of killing, but he couldn’t help it. Seeing Crimwal the way he was hurt him considerably and so he decided to offer Crimwal what little help he could. Although he wasn’t sure if what he was planning was actually going to work.

Raymond held Crimwal gently as he bathed him in his light.

Raymond’s hair glowed brightly along with his eyes. His body gently glowed before swallowing Crimwal whole.

.

..

Just beyond the walls of the barrier fell snow. A snow that felt heavier and darker than any before.