The grey-haired man had trekked for more than half a day in the forest called the Heart of Elaria, but failed to make headway in his search for the Strange Village. The air was hot and humid, carrying a strange stench of the earth. It was overlaid with the rusty tang of blood, the only layer he could discern. For someone as well travelled as him, he was riled by his inability to identify the rest.

In his brown-and-green garment made for a ranger, the man prowled the forest, meandering under the bushy undergrowth and passing through protective foliage. The trees rustled, as the light above slowly died away till all he knew was a cold blue in an eerily silent forest.

Once in a while, that silence would be punctuated by odd growls echoing through the forest but they sounded nothing like the animals or beasts he was familiar with. He did kill a Bryi Lion when he first came in through the portal called the Strange Door from near the Tahoa region, but the starved lion looked like it was fleeing from something rather than an apex predator out to hunt.

The Forest that Eats...His mind whisked off to The Lore of the Heart of Elaria: the Strange and Mysterious Incidents. In it, it recounted the Strange Door–an ancient portal built eons ago by unknown hands and means–as the only safe way to traverse the Heart of Elaria into the Strange Village. It was also said that there was once another path into the Strange Village, through an underground passage from when the late city of Kefla was around. But with the city's destruction by the bloodlusted Noxarian king, Vladimos, the passage collapsed, leaving the Strange Door as the sole option.

The Strange Door was as strange as the nestled land within the Heart of Elaria it brought. The site it was hidden in was said to be a realm unto itself, where their understanding of the normal laws of the world did not apply. It was also said to appear differently to different people. Given the capriciousness of its location, which was never set in one place, most could only find it through paying the Warden, a supernatural guide that roamed the southwest part of the Tahoa river.

He had their guidance, making it possible for me to circumvent the Warden. But that took him three weeks. Through the trials, which acted as Warden's payments, he could find the Strange Door in less time, but with more risk to himself.

He thought back to Bolam's Sons, mercenaries whose reputations rivalled the Black Viper Company as well as the Half Brother Company that Ceil hired. They sought jobs near Tahoa and Jeopall, often doing the dirty, shadowy work for the highest bidders in both cities. These violent rogues and casual killers would sail the Southern Sea, staring down Bildale's raiding ships of marauders without fear. But none dared to venture a step into the Heart of Elaria through the Strange Door.

They spoke of past tales of now-dead comrades who vanished into the Heart of Elaria, never to return; of terrifying man-eating, soul-sucking plants; of violent apes thrice the size of the largest man; and more perils. He could not tell how many were true and how many exaggerated, as such tales often were. But as the growls deepened, he knew he would soon find out.

But he was above such primal fears.

His only fear was the failure of his goal.

The peculiar smell remained a constant companion, but it no longer bothered him. After walking for an indeterminable amount of time, he looked down at the enchanted lodestone he held in his hand, realising it was not vibrating.

Cursing under his breath, the man spun around as he unsheathed his sigils-carved blade that still dripped with the drying blood of the slain lion. Then he noticed a familiar scent had replaced the peculiar smell. With growing awareness, he forsook stealth as he dashed in the direction of the scent; the smell of lavender mixed with cedarwood.

He had held dear that sorely missed scent...his entire life.

His hard, weathered face and cold eyes softened in the long-faded light, as he saw a figure from afar.

He ran.

They embraced, long and hard. Then he kissed her and tightened his grip. She returned in kind, pressing against his brown leather armour. The throes of passion lasted for a long time, in sharp juxtaposition to the harsh forest.

"I'm so sorry...I'm so sorry," he finally said, coming out between raspy breaths.

His eyes were wet.

The figure's honeyed voice came back. "My dear...you have no need to apologise. You were away, and now you are back. We've waited for you."

"I've missed you," the man said.

"And I you," she said, brushing away fallen tears on the man's face with gentle strokes.

"I couldn't save you...I couldn't save her..."

"Now, now," she said in a calm, soothing voice. "Why would you say that?"

"That night..." he said, his voice breaking. "Enara, I killed them all. I castrated every single one of them. I made sure I took my time. I‒"

Smiling, Enara put a finger on his lips. "Listen. Did you hear it?"

"You know her usual game. She's hiding. She wants us to find her."

"I heard...nothing."

"Ah," Enara said, putting one hand on his wrist. "The SteelBlight scares her...remember?"

Aderis looked down, seeing his tight grip around Steelblight, the powerful blade used to fell men, beasts and demons alike. It was the finest work of Ikius the famous magus-turned-blacksmith. Before his departure to the Distant Settlement to seek a rare ingredient, Archmagus Ellydian also worked on it, delighted by how reactive the blade made from fallen meteorite was to alchemy.

It was said when Steelblight slithered out of its scabbard, the cries of those who crossed paths with its owner would ring like an endless echo.

Aderis sheathed his blade.

"Lis?" He called out.

A little figure peered out from behind one of the biggest trees. She moved with timidness in her motion. When Aderis gestured again and called her out, she scampered. They embraced, and Lisara said. "Pa...I waited too long. It's no fun anymore."

"I'm here now, Lis," Aderis said, his voice breaking again from all the emotions struggling to seep out.

"You fought off the sea thieves?" Lisara asked.

Aderis stiffened.

"Pa?"

"Our daughter is asking," Enara said from behind, in a soft voice. She had one hand on his shoulder then he shifted.

The silence reigned, almost uncomfortably long.

"Yes, yes. The sea thieves," he said, the warmth of a lover's voice fading away with every word. "That's what our little Lis would call the Yandi pirates."

"My love?" Enara called out.

He did not bother to respond.

He drew his blade faster than their eyes could follow, pirouetting so he could fell them both at the same time. As they collapsed to the ground, one was eviscerated at the waist and the other by the neck, Aderis stood up again, schooling his expressions once more in the cold sternness he previously had.

He did not look down. He refused to until he was sure they no longer looked like the two he held close to his heart. The two once-familiar figures had morphed into something different. Grey, unliving husks of hideous-looking creatures that were neither humans nor beasts nor demons. They were something else altogether.

These flesh-eating shapeshifters could read the thoughts and memories of their victims and take the living forms of those most dear to them, lowering their guards for an eventual ambush. It was spoken at length as one of the main peculiarities in the Lore of the Heart of Elaria: the Strange and Mysterious Incidents.

Aderis almost fell for the mysterious creatures' allure, but he was bound by agreements to powerful people, whose contract locked away a large part of his memories from any prying attempts to avoid exposing their identities. The shapeshifters could then only feed on memories from decades ago just before Aderis left with the Noxarian army to fend off the Yandi Pirates in a brutal six-month campaign, exposing narrative gaps that compelled him to face the reality: they were mere imposters of his family.

Fight off the sea thieves, papa. That was the last of what Lis said to him before he ventured out with the Noxarian army to defend the western Elarian coast from the Yandi Pirates. It was a stern reminder that his decision to lead the fight against the Yandi Pirates as one of the chief commanders, was how he lost his family to the bandits.

A voice representing the powerful people rang in his ears. While unsurprised, Aderis never failed to be amazed by the ease by which they bridged their minds and projected telepathic messages across such a far distance.

You nearly fell to the shapeshifters, despite our forewarnings. The closer you get to the Strange, the stranger it becomes. If you lose yourself this early, you'll not survive later.

He said, "I have hardened my heart, come what may."

That speed of yours has improved. Tell us, was it Ellydian's alchemy or new contracts with Zogmoth the Dark and his legions? Ah, you did not say but we know. Was it a kidney this time?

"Heraldry sigils take too much time...and time is a luxury," Aderis said.

If you had let us into Arcturius's mind...

"No. I either convince or kill him. He'll not be an enslaved mind. That is no different to an insult to the sire, to my old friend," Aderis said.

Pity. If Arcturius came on board, his son and those who swore the oath of fealty to him would not point their blades at us. One less impediment, no matter how miniscule, is an odd bettered.

Malformed growth and extrusions started to become a common sight as Aderis continued inward into the Strange Village. The Strange Door only took him to a safe path within the Heart of Elaria, but danger still lay ahead.

Open your hand. Point the Mark ahead.

Aderis did as bade.

None to be concerned with. There are other shapeshifters but they fear you more than you them now.

"You've my thanks," Aderis said.

Jerius Lyvia, the boy under Lyvia's care, has come to the Guild.

Aderis was surprised. "They learnt about the Ritual of Keys, or was he there to seek aid?"

Both.

He did not need to ask how they knew. Instead he questioned, "Does he pose a threat to our plan?"

Raw and untempered. He alone amounted to little resistance but he did do something that proved to be more than a mild annoyance. He acquired the aid of an archmagus, and a particularly talented one at that.

"Are you going to personally eliminate her?" Aderis asked.

Some of us care enough not to want to eliminate her. We've a different punishment in mind, such that even if she heads to the Strange Village, it'll be for naught.

"She'll come here?"

There was a pause then the voice in his head said. It'll be for naught, but stay her hand from seeking any truth within the village if she does come.

"When will the Fourth Key be ready?" He asked. "I'm close to the Fifth Key."

The Fourth Key is ready whenever you want it to be. Everything has gone as planned.

"Are you planning to destroy the Guild?"

There's no need for you to know. Do your part, and all will fall into place.

"We've gone down this far together. Do I not at least be privy to the grander plan?" Aderis said. "Aren't we partners in this?"

There was a pause then a slightly different voice emerged. We cultivated wraiths that we will kill later. They have extraordinary spiritual density to create the impression of the mass exodus of souls, fooling the spirit gate.

"Wraiths..." Aderis said. "A good trade-off to initiating a war, seeking wanton destruction and mass killing."

We all do what's necessary.

"Will you kill Jerius Lyvia?" Aderis said, his voice carrying no hatred. "If you do, make it quick and painless, will you? He may not be a Noxarian by birth, but he's a Noxarian at heart."

He still interests us. There's a taint on him, a growing curse within, no doubt from the ritual that gave him Lyvia's magic. We want to see how it plays out. It may yet be another thread that may prove useful, or even necessary in the future...

"Sometimes you play god. You decide whom and when to kill, and you decide who will live," Aderis said, not expecting a response. Instead he thought he heard gleeful voices from the other side of the communication, resonating in his head like echoes in a chamber.

Every realm needs a god. We're doing what's good for this world.

It reminded Aderis they were all in for different reasons. He hoped only to revive and reunite with his family, while the powerful partners he worked with sought to rewrite the laws that shackled this realm and make themselves the god in the process.

The voice continued in his head. Did the assassin get back to you?

"The abominable demon of a man, Malcom the Phantom? I did not hear back so he must have failed," said Aderis. "While we thought some from The Council are middling dullards we can exploit, there are others who are wise and experienced."

We can intervene, Aderis.

"No, he is near his goal," Aderis said. "An intervention now may have the opposite effect."

We will take your words, but don't fail now. Everything in the Guild had gone as planned.

He would slay as many as needed to reclaim his family, be they a city's worth of denizens or the scattered group led by the dead king's son. He would give up his body and soul in a heartbeat to a greater demon. He would burn the whole Heart of Elaria from the west to east, and south to north.

He was not looking to fail.