The next day the group would wake up, still in the woods. Kazius of course woke up before everyone else, so he decided to try his hand at making breakfast. As he cooked, he found himself lost in thought. He was happy Damon seemed to be doing better… But Vargstam itself was problematic… Would they turn around without Luna there? Something told him though that someone as malicious as her would not give up… Just like Leo and Alex. People like that were not just toxic, but malicious, an enemy. The list of enemies they had only grew… Though the list of friends did too… Then there was the information he learned about Zelphar.

‘There is definitely something fucked up about the 3 kingdoms… If Zelphar and Ratier ended up like this… It was likely Thimdur may not be any better… The war that will come will be one against them all… Maybe… I should find a way to take care of them before the Demon King comes… I wonder… If I have the power to do it…’

He would look at his shadow, which looked like a normal shadow at the moment… Yet to him, it was clear he heard it talk twice now… As he dwelled on this, he was snapped out of his thoughts by Azanor.

“Good morning… You sure look happy to be making breakfast… If you are going to be making a face like that, you should have waited on Damon or Alice to wake up.” Azanor mused sarcastically.

Kazius sighed, “That isn’t it… It… it’s complicated.” He admitted, aware he did not tell his friends yet about the vision he got from The Oracle. It wasn’t like he wanted to keep it a secret, but rather Kazius felt that it would be better to wait to explain to them such a thing… Not to mention, he had no idea how to speak about such it without sounding like a lunatic.

“More complicated than your wife not remembering who you are or who she is? Or even who did that to her?” Azanor questioned with a raised brow. He had opened up to Kazius a lot after all.

“Yes and no, it is up there though.” Kazius sighed out, “It is several things… And I know for a fact that there are things you still haven’t told me… And it isn’t like I want to keep it from you… I will tell you all of it eventually, to all of you… Promise…”

“Alright… That is fair… Same for me…” Azanor stated with a sigh.

“I do have a question though.” Kazius admitted.

“Alright… What is it?” Azanor questioned, seeming willing to answer without hesitation. This surprised Kazius.

“You said you can’t tell what I am but… You seemed to understand to some extent how my power worked though, back at Remus… So you must have an idea of a race that has some of my powers… Also… Does the name Seselis sound familiar to you? I just… I want to understand myself a bit before I go forward with something…” Kazius would finally speak up.

Azanor was about to answer Kazius’ question, but then he froze, making a horrified face. “Seselis? How do you know a terrible name like that? Don’t tell me… Oh…” He seemed to have an understanding look.

“Vind said I am just like him… I am guessing he might be my father… Likely not a good one, if I ended up in a Human orphanage out of all things… Your face seems to verify that…” Kazius stated with a concerned look.

“Well… He is quite a terrible being… You are right… To be honest, you may have been better off in an orphanage than raised by him… I wouldn’t know how you ended up in such a place… But whoever put you there, likely did so to protect you…” Azanor admitted with a grimace. “Seselis is the Lord of Shadow… The King of The Shadow Fiends. A race of beings of pure darkness. And this is coming from a Demon. What makes them so dangerous is that they are quite unhinged. Something happens where light can’t reach, he may just get involved and use it for his purposes. Think of it this way… My brother wants to conquer the world and enslave mortals to be his little soul cattle… Seselis wants to bring darkness to the world, so there is only shadow.” Azanor explained.

“Well, isn’t that lovely… I guess that answers that… When you put it like that, no way I will try and find more on him… No touching father son reunion for me…” Kazius joked with a slightly bitter laugh.

“We can’t pick our fathers… But we can be better men than them.” Damon would suddenly speak up, drawing the attention of the two.

“Sorry… I… Woke up a while ago… And didn’t want to interrupt.” He stated sheepishly.

“It is okay, I don’t mind. You’re right, we don’t.” Kazius admitted with a grin, not affected by it very much. After all, he had his friends. Not to mention, perhaps his mother had tried to protect him… She could be out there somewhere… She may be the one that gave him the necklace with his name… Something he still wore. But he would deal with that eventually. At the moment, he needed to enjoy the camping and perhaps look into the hidden location in Mount Ulf that Vind told him about.

“Buahaha! Glad you see it that way too!” Damon beamed only to look at the sleeping Alice and Eve and quiet down again.

“Yes, we shouldn’t live in the past nor dwell on what we can’t control…” Kazius trailed off, looking at his clothes. This whole time, he still wore his old knight armor. It was time he got rid of such a thing.

“Speaking of… Do you think in town I could find something new to wear? I want to get rid of this.” Kazius admitted.

Damon would study the uniform, “That is what those two were wearing when we met… Those former friends of yours, right? I get it! Buahaha! Don’t worry! My clothes would be too big, but I will find you something!” He would beam, giving a thumbs up.

Being quiet was not Damon’s strong suit, once again getting excited and being loud. This would wake up the two sleeping women. Alice would get up and stretch, “What is all the noise about?” She mumbled sleepily.

Eve too would also wake up, Azanor at this moving away from the fire and would go to tend to her.

“Sorry.” Damon would laugh out apologetically.

“It is okay… ” Alice would state sluggishly with a yawn.

“Good morning… You woke up right in time… Breakfast is ready.” Kazius admitted.

With that, the group would eat breakfast.

Alice was awake by now, eating quite energetically. Eve on the other hand had fallen asleep again with her head on Azanor’s shoulder. They did stay up late… Then again, the woman wasn’t actually an Elf, who knows how much sleep she even needed, if any. She was convinced she was one though… But at least Azanor looked genuinely content at having her close.

Their meal would be interrupted though.

“Damon!”

They would hear a familiar voice shout at a distance.

Damon would freeze at this, turning to look at the direction where the voice came. He looked nervous and once the group spotted who it was… It was understandable why. It was Caleb.

Rather than angry though or his usually indifferent expression, he had a sad expression on his face. He looked worried, but relieved once he spotted Damon. He looked absolutely exhausted, dark circles in his eyes.

“Where were you?! I’ve been looking for you all night!” Caleb exclaimed, hugging the surprised Damon. His words switching to common.

“C-Caleb? Did something happen?” Damon questioned in concern.

“What do you mean did something happen!? You never returned home! I was worried sick! I… I am sorry…” Caleb admitted, his expression miserable.

“What are you talking about, Caleb? You didn’t do anything.” Damon stated.

“Exactly! Luna… She… She told me about everything… I… I had no idea… I swear…” Caleb admitted in shame, “I am sorry… I am such a terrible older brother… I thought… I never got involved because I understood what Luna felt, but I thought she would get over it one day… I let her treat you that way… I never did anything about it… I figured if I just didn’t get involved the townspeople would stop too… But Luna… She was the one… You are my sibling as well, yet I never defended you…” Caleb stated, tearing up. He looked like he felt guilty. Despite his exhaustion, he refused to sit down or stop talking. He was struggling to stand.

“I told Luna off… She… She wanted me to leave the town with her… I refused… I failed both of you… If I had corrected her… Maybe… Just maybe… We would be an actual family… But instead, I was scared and now look at what happened… When you didn’t come home… I thought… I-I thought…” Caleb trailed off, shaking. His violet eyes full of fear more than exhaustion.

Damon was shocked at Caleb’s words, but at this, he would return the hug. His expression genuinely relieved.

‘I am happy for him… I know he said he was okay… But he spoke of Caleb quite well… It is good he at least has a brother that cares for him.’

“I am okay… I promise… I… My friends, they helped me through this a lot… To be honest… Kazius here realized what Luna had been up to and called her out on it… I don’t blame you for everything… I know… Father scared you… Just like he did me… And Luna… I endured because I saw Mother in her… I wanted her happy… To be accepted by her… But… I… I don’t think we can help her.” Damon admitted, his gaze darkening a bit with sadness.

“I don’t know… I wish… I wish she didn’t have that hatred in her heart… But… I know Mother was likely the one who put it in there… But… I promise you, Damon… I will be a better brother to you… I told the town already… I told them off about that Chief nonsense… I…” Caleb stated, exhaustion finally catching up to him. He would struggle to stay up. Running around all night would do that, especially now that the adrenaline wore off.

Thankfully, Damon was able to help him lay down, “Thank you, Caleb… It means a lot to me, but you should sleep. The you need your rest, especially with the Full Moon coming up.” He pointed out. Thankfully Caleb did not have to be told twice, he was out like a light before they knew it.