Iris woke up from a deep slumber to an extinguished fireplace in a dark living room and Arylos nearby strapping his armour on. She rose from the blankets and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with a yawn.

“What are you doing?” she asked Arylos, drowsiness in her voice.

Arylos strapped his sword to his waist and pulled it part way out to inspect the edge. “Something felt wrong while I was asleep, so I’m heading out to investigate.”

“Is it even morning?” Iris asked, lifting herself out of the torotsu.

“It is, but the sun is only just about to rise,” Arylos answered, finishing his preparations and walking over to Iris, resting his hands on her shoulders. “You should wait here until I get back.”

Iris was snapped awake by Arylos’s statement. “I’m not just sitting around here until you get back! I’m going with!”

Arylos shook his head, keeping his voice calm. “It could be dangerous, especially in this cold. You’re staying here.”

“And it could be dangerous for you too so I’m going!” Iris barked to Arylos. “I’m ready to crack some skulls in!”

Arylos sighed, unable to refuse her. He let her go and Iris ran upstairs to her room to get her things. After a few minutes, Iris returned to the foyer in her armour, hoisting Helion onto her back. After a quick nod between the two, Arylos opened the door and the two made their way outside.

“Gah dammit!” Iris exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her, bracing against the freezing cold and the snow on the ground.

“You’re more than welcome to stay,” Arylos told her, heading off into the cold without a care.

“Don’t patronise me!” Iris barked and followed close behind Arylos, trying to work up the courage to continue after her determination was knocked out of her.

The two walked west through the streets and then south under the dark sky just barely showing the hints of the yellow sun. The city was silent in the cold and draped in a blanket of snow that gave the night an eerie light of its own and the silence met only by the sounds of trees rustling with little to no wind blowing through the air; a calm and serene winter night.

The duo eventually reached the southern gate where guards were gathering around Sentarus, who stood tall in the group as he briefed his soldiers.

“I was hoping you two would show up,” Sentarus regarded the duo with a quick nod. He then waved off his soldiers and they returned to their posts, many of them readying supplies and equipment including medicines and stretchers.

Iris looked around at the guards’ preparations as Arylos approached the Kaiyumae king and greeted him with a handshake.

“What’s going on?” Iris asked the two men, coming up close behind Arylos.

“That is what is going on,” Sentarus told them while pointing off into the horizon to the trees in the south.

Iris looked on and saw a tall pillar of smoke rise up to the sky from the trees; something was burning.

Sentarus turned back to the duo to explain. “To the south of here is a city called Gurindai, situated just south of that forest. My guards told me that they saw a pillar of light come down from the sky and not long later, the smoke started to rise. We have not had contact with the city since this started.”

“A pillar of light, you say?” Arylos asked, clenching his fist.

“That’s right,” Sentarus confirmed. “You and I both know what that means. I have my men preparing to help any refugees with food and shelter, but for the possible threat, it may be best to leave that to you.”

Arylos nodded and rested his left hand on his scabbard, making sure it was ready at a moment’s notice as a sign to Sentarus that he would handle it. He then turned and beckoned Iris to follow him and then pointed to two of the guards standing by the gate. “You two, with me,” he instructed with a stern voice to which the guards obeyed and followed the duo through the gate and into the snow.

“I don’t get it, what does he think is going on?” Iris asked, confused by their unspoken language.

“Did you see when the Templarians came to your village?” Arylos asked, unchanging in his pace.

Iris thought back to the attack on Nageki. “I didn’t see them, but I heard something loud. Like thunder that kept striking.”

“Templarians use a specific method to travel worlds,” Arylos explained, “they call it a ‘Realm Gate’. When they arrive at a world, they rain down as pillars of light from the sky that strike the ground.”

Iris understood what fight was awaiting them; something bad was about to happen.

The group pushed forward into the dark before dawn with vengeance in their hearts. Iris concentrated her breathing as Arylos once taught her to help her prepare the power in her. Arylos scanned the darkness with glowing red eyes and wide pupils that shone like a cat’s.

“There!” Arylos called out while pointing to the treeline.

From out of the trees came a mother with four children of varying ages carrying a crying baby in her arms. They were covered in soot, blood, and scars of varying degrees.

“Is everyone alright?” Arylos asked, concern weighing his voice down.

“Please, get the children out of here,” the woman begged, limping forward with a bleeding leg.

“We’re getting all of you out,” Iris declared and cast a glance to the guards. “Can you two patch her up and get them to the gate?”

“Of course!” one of the guards called out, taking the child from the woman’s arms while the other prepared bandages for her leg.

“We’re continuing ahead to make sure you’re not followed,” Arylos announced and continued forward with Iris in tow.

“Do you think they’ll be okay?” Iris asked. “We did kind of leave them behind there.”

“The way back to the gate is safe,” Arylos explained with a fire in his eyes. “We need to make sure nothing follows them and look for any other survivors and bring them with us.”

“But can those guards defend against a Templarian?” Iris continued.

“Sentarus picks his soldiers personally,” Arylos explained. “He wouldn’t pick someone who can’t handle themselves. They may be ill equipped to fight a Templarian, but I’m sure they will fight to the death to defend them to at least get them behind Sentoraya’s walls.”

Iris thought about it for a moment, taking solace in the assurance. “They’ll just throw their lives away like that?”

Arylos bowed his head, thinking for a moment before answering. “They know that their lives mean less than those they are charged to protect. They would gladly die if it means those children can live, even if it’s for a moment longer.”

Iris felt like there was something unsaid in Arylos’s words, like a burden he had on his shoulders that added weight to what he said. Yet she decided to keep silent; she felt comforted that the soldiers will do their duty. Arylos has lived a long life so he’s likely seen this kind of situation first hand; where people fight off something that is stronger than them just to see tomorrow, even if there’s no hope. She decided that he should be allowed to have his privacy, just in case it hurt him.

The two pushed through the treeline and froze in place at the site of a small city lit ablaze; burning with tall walls of flames that roze high into the sky. An eerie silence carried on the air save for the sound of flames crackling and wood snapping. The two approached the burning city and stopped in front of an archway of burning wood between a wooden fence surrounding the city.

“Iris, go back to Sentoraya,” Arylos instructed in a calm voice. “Make sure the others get back okay.”

Iris felt offended by the suggestion and raised her voice to protest.

“Do not argue with me,” Arylos cut Iris off, his voice stern yet Iris could hear a calm rage in his voice. “Just go. I will go back and meet with all of you when I am done here.”

Iris felt her heart quiver. She wanted to push forward, but Arylos must have had a reason for this instruction. He knows just how important it is for her to help, so why would he tell her to turn away now?

She could only nod and rushed back to the refugees and the guards. She couldn’t help but wonder; why would Arylos tell her to turn back? What about him? Would he be able to fight whatever was still in the city?

She cut back through the treeline and saw the guards finishing tending to the woman’s wounds and preparing to head off.

“Did something happen?” one of the guards asked in concern.

Iris shook her head. “I’m going to make sure you guys get back personally.”

“But what about Arylo–I mean Lord Vahsmorn’r?” the other guard asked.

“He’ll handle things from here,” Iris assured the guards. Behind her, she felt power in the air and felt a resonance through her chest. She turned and watched as in the distance, the flames that once burned started to fade and grow silent, plunging the forest back into the eerie glow of the winter dawn.

Deep down, she wondered who was the bigger threat; the Templarian who did this or the Titan.