Kalos woke up early, hopped out of the carriage and prepared some of their last food.

It had been some since they received their supplies from Neelae back during their arrival in Tolman, so their stocks were running low.

Kalos started a small fire before flying into the air. He made his way towards a small clearing in the nearby forest and caught a few rabbits, but he stumbled on a dead deer on his way back.

A fully grown deer would have been enough for everyone but upon closer inspection, Kalos saw that it had been a while since the deer died. All that remained was rotting flesh and a surprising amount of undamaged hide.

Kalos flew back to camp before flying off into the air again. He then made his way to the Iann river and caught several fish before flying back to camp where he prepared everything as everyone else awoke.

He had prepared a separate set of meals for Crimwal and entrusted Raymond to serve them to him.

Kalos then heard the sounds of a weeping Keema as Eevana, Estella and Neelae exited the carriage.

Kalos had long since created a barrier around the camp so the surrounding temperature was pleasant.

Estella and the others sat by some makeshift chairs Kalos had made and it wasn’t long before Alis’s group approached.

“Mind if we join you?” Trevenor asked as Alis pretended to check his gear.

Kalos nodded before everyone greedily partook in breakfast.

.

..

Keema burped, signalling the end of their hearty meal.

Kalos stood up and walked towards a clear patch before raising his hands.

“What is he doing?” Alis asked.

“He’s making a bath for us,” Eevana said as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

Alis wanted to question Kalos himself, but he realised that maintaining multiple barriers must have been hard on Kalos.

This was incredibly incorrect as Kalos erected several more barriers in his quest to build a giant bathtub.

Kalos then sealed off the tub in its own barrier.

“Alright! Aunty, Neelae and Eevana, you go first. I’ll go after and Alis’s group can decide among themselves.” Kalos said before summoning Reu.

“Huh?” Neelae asked as Eevana helped Estella up.

“You want to bathe by yourself?” Kalos asked.

“No! That’s… not…” Neelae’s voice trailed away as she followed Eevana and Estella into the barrier that hid the bath.

Alis then noticed that Kalosýni’s hair was glowing as the boy sat by his chair.

Kalos closed his eyes and tried channelling his magic to and from his sword. He then tried transferring his power to the pendant which was in his bag in the carriage.

Alis approached Kalos before sitting next to him.

“What are you doing?” Alis asked, while desperately trying to hide his childlike wonder.

“I’m cycling my magic while transferring it to random objects. I want to see what the limits of my magic are. What can I control? That’s what I want to answer.” Kalos answered as he sent out tiny pulses of his magic.

Alis tried doing the same, but nothing happened. He then sighed before facing Kalos again.

“How are you doing this exactly?” Alis asked.

“Well, I’m cycling my magic within myself in an attempt to test my limits, while reaching out into the space beyond my body to test the limits of my control,” Kalos said he sent a bit of his magic to Alis, who’s eyes instantly widened as he felt a deep pain within his chest. That pain was accompanied by a great power.

Tears ran down Alis’s face, but he quickly wiped them away.

“Ok, that’s enough! I get it.” He said as he felt a deep sadness that threatened to paralyze him.

Alis got up and walked towards his tent, which he began dismantling.

Trevenor got up and tapped his brother’s shoulder.

“Umm… what are you doing?” Trevenor asked.

“Packing my things. You should too.” Alis said.

“But why?” Trevenor asked as Reeca walked towards him and his brother.

“Do I have to explain? We’re most likely gonna die if we stick around these people. That and our boss I dead. So we’re not obligated to keep protecting Crimwal.” Alis said.

“It’s not like we did that in the first place,” Trevenor mumbled, but Alis continued to pack hid things.

Trevenor sighed before facing Kalos, who silently meditated.

“Ugh, fine. But seven silver coins says that we’re safer here than anywhere else.” Trevenor said as he packed his things.

Reeca joined them and it wasn’t long before they were ready to leave.

Kalos opened his eyes and walked over to where they were.

He looked up at Alis, who sat on top of his horse.

“Goodbye,” Kalos said gently before Alis rode out of the barrier.

“Goodbye, Kalos,” Trevenor said before following his brother.

Reeca gave Kalos a nod before following Trevenor.

“They left?” Neelae asked as she emerged from the bath barrier.

“Yes,” Kalos said as he saw three sparklingly clean women and a baby.

“You all look as beautiful as ever,” Kalos said with a smile as Estella waddled past him.

“Tsk! You chose only to compliment us now.” Estella scoffed.

Kalos tilted his head in confusion and turned to Eevana for answers but she walked past him and joined Estella in the carriage without saying anything.

“What’s with those two?” Kalos asked Neelae, but she hadn’t the faintest clue either.

What she was mostly interested in was Kalosýni’s Eexel. She approached him and snuck glances at the majestic blue blade.

“Do you want to hold?” Kalos asked.

“If you don’t mind,” Neelae said.

“Sure, go ahead,” Kalos said as he entered the bath barrier.

He removed the water from the bath and brought in a fresh load before submerging himself in the clear liquid.

He then took a quick bath before leaving the bath barrier, to find his father standing next to a very small man with white hair.

His small limbs and rather large head made him seem fragile and his grey eyes stole a gasp from Kalos as he walked. Kalos also noticed that he had a beautiful blue scarf gently coiled around his neck.

“Crimwal?” Kalos called out and the little man looked at him before smiling weakly.

Kalos dashed towards Crimwal before slowing down and hugging him as gently as possible.

“How are you feeling?” Kalos asked.

“I’m ok,” Crimwal said weakly. His size had reduced by so much, he was only slightly larger than Kalosýni’s right leg, although Kalos was rather big.

“Are you hungry?” Kalos asked as he walked over to the carriage.

“No, but thank you. Raymond gave me some food already. Although judging by how delicious it tasted, I can tell that he wasn’t the one who cooked it, hehe.” Crimwal said with a weak laugh before standing by a clearing.

“I’d like to bury her. Now, if possible.” Crimwal requested and Kalos moved the magical bubble Kalnae was into where Crimwal and Raymond were.

Kalos then removed a certain amount of soil before placing the bubble within the ground.

Estella and the others joined Crimwal as they stood by the grave.

Crimwal then knelt and placed a handful of soil on the bubble.

Raymond knelt before doing the same. Everyone chipped in, but Kalos was the one who completely sealed the grave.

“Raymond?” Crimwal called.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think she’s in Nesrafaar or something?” Crimwal asked.

“Mmm…” Raymond droned. He had been to Nesrafaar and he knew that it was just like this realm only the creatures there were made of light.

“I think she’s somewhere beyond that. Watching over you.” Raymond said as he placed his large hand on Crimwal’s back.

Crimwal sighed before returning to his tent, alongside Raymond.

Kalos then crossed his arms as he paced back and forth.

He wanted to resolve the “saving the world” issue with Kraeven, but he had something else to deal with before that. The issue of the elafriá was still very real, but Kalos didn’t want to wipe them all out.

Kalos continued to pace before Eevana walked up to him.

“What now?” She asked.

“Well… I want to go into Nesrafaar and kill everything there, but the denizens of Nesrafaar aren’t all to blame. It was dad who killed the contentum. If only the elafriá were willing to talk.” Kalos said, but Eevana tilted her head in confusion.

“Kalos, you are one of, if not the most powerful being in existence. I’m pretty sure you could convince them to stop.” Eevana said as she playfully spun. Kalos then realised that she was wearing a silky blue gown.

Kalos smiled before walking up to the dancing Eevana.

“What would you suggest I do? You know, to convince them.” Kalos asked.

“I don’t know. That’s up to you. But I’m sure that if you show them even a fraction of your power, they will kneel. Yes, some may resist, but in the end, no one sits at high as you.” Eevana said before she threw herself into Kalosýni’s arms.

“You sure do say some strange things sometimes.” Kalos teased.

“Well, I’m not the one who said they were going to die, so…” Eevana teased as Kalos gave her some of his essence, silencing her.

He then let go of her before walking toward the edge of the barrier.

“Oh, wait! I made something for you.” Eevana said before running to the carriage.

She then returned with a silky blue shirt of some sort.

Kalos narrowed his eyes as Eevana raised the shirt, revealing that it had far too many holes for a normal shirt.

Sensing Kalosýni’s confusion, Eevana sighed.

“Those are for your extra arms.” She said before Kalos removed his jacket and shirt.

Kalos slipped into the slightly baggy shirt and gave Eevana a nod before turning to leave.

“Tell dad I’m going to try and clean his mess,” Kalos said as he hopped out of the barrier.

Beyond its wall, he saw a fresh layer of snow that blanketed the land for as far as he could see.

He sighed as he thought about how much harder this would make the recovery of Ianndor.

Kalos flew above the broken city and created a barrier over it, within which he increased the temperature to pleasant levels.

Kalos then nodded to himself before looking to the sky.

He had briefly witnessed his father as he ascended to Nesrafaar, but he wasn’t sure how he would cross through the realms.

Kalosýni’s extra arms popped out of his back before slipping out of the holes Eevana tailor-made for him as his hair and eyes turned bright blue.

Kalos then sped toward the stars at an incredible speed, he fed all of his power toward his feet, propelling him past the clouds and it wasn’t long before he felt reality shift.

He pushed even further before everything flashed white.

He quickly stopped and looked around, only to find hundreds of thousands of elafriá floating gracefully in the space above him.

They were all dressed in glorious white armour and held various weapons.

Kalos wondered if they were planning on attacking the mortal realm again.

The elafriá quickly noticed Kalos and they instantly pointed their weapons at him.

“Look, it’s a human!” One of them yelled. This sent the entire white army into an uproar.

“Kill it!” Another said before a hail of spears and various other weapons rained down on Kalos.

Kalos sighed before flying further upwards as the elafriá chased him.

He wondered if there was something beyond Nesrafaar, but that would have to wait.

Kalos zapped high above them before sending magic into his voice box.

“Listen! I don’t want to fight you!” Kalos yelled. His voice shook Nesrafaar, but the elafriá continued to pursue Kalos regardless.

“If that is so, then why are so many of my people dead?” A similarly powerful voice asked.

Kalos looked up as he narrowly avoided getting impaled. He saw another elafriá, but that one was several times more powerful than the others.

“Are you the leader of the elafriá?” Kalos asked as he dashed around.

“Thanks to your insidious acts, we no longer have leaders! I am, however, the most qualified for the leadership role in their absence.” The elafriá said. He was far bigger than Kalos and has a set of glorious armour.

Although one thing that separated him from the others was the fact that he wasn’t holding a weapon.

“What if I were to hand over the one who killed the contentum?” Kalos asked.

“It is far too late for that. So many of us have died, but we will not stop until your kind is completely wiped out.” The elafriá said.

“But why would you make everyone pay for something that one person did?” Kalos asked as Kalnae and Crimwal flashed in his mind.

Kalos did his best to suppress any negative feelings as the elafriá weren’t to blame for all this.

“Does it matter? Our realm has lost its guardians. We are as good as dead.” The elafriá said as its head fell, seemingly out of despair.

“Anyway. That’s all I have to say to you. I can tell that you are far stronger than I am, but don’t think for a second that this fight will be easy-"

“Fine, I’ll fight you. But can you at least tell me your name?” Kalos asked.

“Why would I do that?” The elafriá asked as he floated towards Kalos. Time had already slowed down for both of them, meaning they were moving and thinking extremely quickly.

“For convenience sake,” Kalos said with a smile.

“Ugh, if you must know. The name of this warrior is Arcturus. Now, fight me.” Arcturus said before Kalos lodged one of his legs into Arcturus’s chest. A massive shockwave occurred as a result of Kalosýni’s attack.

Arcturus spat out a mouth full of blood as Kalosýni’s foot crushed his chest.

Kalos kicked the elafriá away before rushing toward him, but Arcturus wasn’t going to die that easily.

Kalos rushed in towards Arcturus before punching him several times in the face.

Arcturus then grabbed Kalos before head butting him. He wrapped his arms around Kalos, who felt a surge of energy.

“You’re going to kill yourself?” Kalos asked as Arcturus’s body rapidly heated up.

“Yes and I’m taking you with me if I can,” Arcturus yelled as several portals slowly opened far below.

“What do you gain by sending your men to their deaths?” Kalos asked.

“Don’t you see? Without our guardians, we are doomed to suffer a gruesome fate at the hands of beings like you!” Arcturus yelled as cracks formed on his face.

“What? There are others like me? Where?” Kalos asked.

“Like I’m going to tell you, human filth!” Arcturus yelled before he unceremoniously blew up.

Kalos used all four of his arms to compress the magical energy from the explosion. The magic swirled around into a large ball within Kalosýni’s grasp. He then absorbed it as time returned to normal.

He looked down and saw that all of the elafriá had turned towards the portals beneath them.

Kalos sighed as he looked around. There were no buildings or other visible structures. Kalos had hoped to find a figure of importance with whom he could reason with, but it looked like all of the elafriá were determined to fight to the death.

Kalos then thought about humanity for a moment.

What he had seen was pretty dark, but he hadn't taken the time to make any well thought conclusions.

If what Arcturus said was true, then at some point, beings far more powerful than the elafriá would appear.

Kalos wondered if it would be good for mankind if the weak were exterminated, leaving only the strong.

An army of capable warriors would surely rise from the ashes of war.

Kalos looked at the numerous portals below him as the elafriá descended.

If humanity on its own couldn’t overcome this, then what hope did they have in a world where beings like he and Raymond existed.

Kalos then wondered if Keema would be strong enough to live in that world.

Kalos spread his magic throughout Nesrafaar.

If mankind was going to survive, it’d need all the help it could get. Although Kalos didn’t plan on holding anyone’s hands.