Somehow, Nalia found a way to almost fall asleep on her horse. Despite the road being uneven and rocky, and the cold, heavy rain beating down on her head, her eyelids still grew heavier and heavier. She let out a big yawn. Even with her cloak over her armor and hood over her head, she couldn’t help but feel a shiver.

May as well try this out now, she thought to herself.

Nalia reached out her hand in front of her. She focused all her attention on a palm, slowly breathing in and out. One of the key components of magic was focus. Focus, focus, focus. Nalia flexed her fingers. And then it happened. She felt it before she saw anything. A tingling finger that started at the tips of her fingers, and suddenly spread across the palm of her hand. And then, a very, very quiet sound. Almost unnoticeable. If Nalia hadn’t been so focused on casting the spell, the quiet whoosh sound would’ve been completely drowned out by the rain.

The next thing she knew, a translucent grayish forcefield rose from her hand. It rose into the sky, growing in diameter as it did so. It eventually stopped about seven feet above the group. Nalia looked up to what she had just cast. She watched as the millions of droplets of rain were caught by the forcefield. It moved as they did, completely covering everybody.

“Ha!” Talion shouted, looking upwards as well.

“Look at that,” he gestured his arms upward with pride.

“I guess so,” Nalia said quietly to herself. “It isn't much, though.” She looked around for a bit. The rain fell hard on all sides. The ground below them was littered with puddles.

She sighed. It was hard to tell the time without the lack of the Sun. It had to at least be midday by down. Maybe a little bit before. And yet, no sign they’re getting close.

It really is going to take forever for us to make it there and back, she thought to herself. She shook her head. No use thinking like that. Just need to focus on the spell.

“So what brought you all here?” Talion asked the group. “Or… Who, I should say. I’m starting to think us being here is no coincidence.”

“Some strange guy,” Reiha perked up. “Tall. Lanky. He looked human, but I don’t think he was.”

“You trusted some random human?” Dyra asked. “No offense, Talion.”

“None taken.”

“Well, like I said, ‘He looked human.’ I’m starting to think He wasn’t.”

“What can you tell us about Him besides tall, strange, and lanky?” Nalia asked.

“The first thing that comes to mind is being around him. I don’t know. It felt strange. It’s hard to describe. But something about Him made me just trust Him, which is something I do not say a lot. Not only that, but I can sense something was off about Him. Something I couldn’t point out then and there. It was only when I first met Chaos when I felt the same feeling.”

“Strangely enough, I felt somewhat similar around Death.”

Talion turned his body so fast, he almost fell off his horse.

“Death?” He wheezed.

Dyra nodded.

“Who died?” Talion asked bluntly.

Nalia, who was now next to Talion, quickly jabbed him on his shoulder.

“Ow! Sorry, sorry.” He apologized.

“No, it’s fine. My father did. I guess that’s when Death took notice of me.”

“How was it? Meeting Her, I mean.” Nalia asked.

“Regarding the existential dread, it felt strange. Like how Reiha described it. Felt weird, too. I mean, my father just died. Huge blow and all. But to Death, it seemed like just another day. Like a routine job for Her. And I guess it is.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Aigor said.

“There’s no going back now, I guess. And at least I got to talk to my father one last time.”

“What do you mean?” Talion asked.

“Well… I’m a grave-seer.”

Those words gained everyone’s attention. Probably more than what Dyra would’ve wanted. Nalia, who was still up front, could feel embarrassment emanating from Dyra as everyone started staring at her.

“How about you, Aigor?” Asked Nalia, in an attempt to get the attention off Dyra.

“Long story short, I used to own a blacksmith. It closed down. More people moving to safer locations means less gold coming in. So in the end, I was left jobless. Or, I would’ve, if two strangers didn’t come to me. They seemed like polar opposites; one of them, a woman with red hair and green eyes - seemed really joyful. She was with this gloomy looking fellow - dark hair, dark eyes, all black clothing.”

“Mara and Veryx,” Nalia blurted, only to be met with no response. “Sounds just like them, right?”

“I think…” Talion was about to say something, only for her attention to be grabbed by something else. “Do you guys see that?”

He pointed to his right. There it was. A massive boulder in the middle of two trees. But… There was something on it. Nalia squinted. It looked as if it was sleeping…

Talion’s horse started breathing heavily. Nalia could hear him silently curse to himself as his horse began to tense up, its head looking towards the boulder. The forcefield above them dissipated as her attention focused on the creature on the boulder.

The thing looked up, awakened from its slumber. Nalia could hear its deep growl from here. The thing hopped off its boulder, landing on its four razor-sharp claws. As the monster’s gigantic wings spread out, Nalia realized what she was looking at; a griffon.

A brief moment of tense silence passed between them and the clearly angry, hungry-looking griffon. Its wing slowly started flapping up and down. Suddenly, Talion’s horse screeched out of fear, rearing back on its hind legs. Talion yelled out as he flew down onto the hard ground, his horse bolting off into the distance.

Without any warning, the griffon leaped off the ground, flying in a straight beeline towards Talion - who was still stunned from the fall. Just in time, however, Nalia casted a telekinetic blast at the griffon. It wasn’t strong enough to knock it on its back, but good enough to stun it. Dyra and Nalia broke out of their formation, their polearms aimed at the griffon. But, before they could reach it, the monster flew back into the air.

From the back, Reiha drew her bow and an arrow. She aimed her bow as the griffon circled in the air, preparing to make another dive. The arrow was pulled back, and just as the griffon dived towards her, it was let loose. It zoomed through the air, and before Nalia could even process the arrow being launched, it lodged deep into the griffon’s wing. With a high-pitched screech, it sank to the ground like a giant back of rocks.

Talion stumbled back onto his two feet, axe in hand. He raised his weapon into the air, attempted to make a lunge at the griffon, but the moment he did so, the griffon slashed at him with its claws. Talion jumped back just in time, only for the griffon to rush towards him.

The griffon stood up on its two feet, flapping its still good wing. It prepared to make another strike at Talion. From the side, as if out of nowhere, Aigor charged up on his hog. He leaned forward just in time, whacking his warhammer right into the monster’s leg. It let out another cry of pain, landing on its stomach with a loud thud. Talion, who was right under it, instinctively leaped backward - accidentally slipping in some mud and falling on his back.

Nalia’s horse sprinted in a straight line towards the griffon. Dyra came from the side, breaking off to help Talion up.

Nalia lifted up her spear, aiming it at the griffon’s neck area.

Its attention wasn’t focused on her. If she was quick enough, she could just maybe get a hit on it. That’s what she thought until another arrow came flying mere inches in front of Nalia’s face.

“Sorry!” yelled Reiha from the back.

The mere whoosh of the arrow caught the griffon’s attention. It let out an angry growl, getting ready to pounce at her. But then, Aigor circled back. He sat up on his saddle, and with one fell swoop, launched himself towards the griffon. But just before he could reach its side, the griffon swung its arm at him. Aigor came flying backward towards Nalia’s horse. His brief moment of flight ended as he slammed right into her horse's legs, causing it to trip.

It felt like time had slowed down. Nalia flying into the air, spear still somehow in hand. The griffon, whose attention had now shifted once more to Talion and Dyra, was desperately trying to claw at them. That all came to an end, however, as Nalia slammed right into the griffon’s side. Luckily for her, she managed to grab onto it just in time before she could fall down.

The griffon obviously felt her grab on. It bucked up and down, using its wing to try and knock her off. Nalia kept herself on by some miracle. She pulled herself into its back, holding on for dear life. She squeezed her spear, quickly lifting it up. Nalia stabbed her spear down with as much force she could exert, right into the griffon’s neck.

With yet another pained shriek, it staggered. And then, it fell onto its side. Right before it did, Nalia jumped, landing on her two feet.