Clearly, the Exodus is making a mockery of me.

That window, his only salvation from the emptiness around him, was very stout in light of its simplicity. Understandably so. When its adversary was an ethereal nothingness, it was hard to imagine how it could fail to withstand his irritated outbursts. Interaction with it beyond light touches merely ricocheted off its surface. Dorusc began to suspect it had somehow intentionally blocked his assaults. This didn't please him.

When not preoccupied with expending his pent-up vitriol on the aperture, Dorusc examined what went on outside it. Nothing of import, as far as he was concerned. Mortals with little else to do but mourn over the deaths of their own kind. Ironic, in the sense that their deaths truly meant nothing to the Realm, or the gods they so freely called upon. Pernicious headache over nothing, laughable when compared against the vastness unseen by their eyes.

He had noticed the villagers from before and their reunion. Some carried away two that had fainted a little before then from the heat, tear-stained creatures that they were. Gradually, they meandered their way back to whatever they were doing prior, leaving the gate shut and heavily guarded compared to before. People the voices around him referred to as the 'Elder" and the "Bloodstaves" separated from the young guardsmen to beat a hasty retreat from the gate area, and back to the village body.

The day passed uneventfully, until early evening. Nothing had changed for Dorusc or his situation, much to his chagrin. However, things had picked up on the outside. The "Elder" from earlier was seated in front of him with two others, the "Bloodstaves". Several looks around him, undoubtedly brought on by his host's unease, revealed that Dorusc wasn't alone.

The elf was seated beside him, or rather, beside the mortal named Zane, the host of his limited ken. Standing aloofly behind them brooded an agitated Yorn and disinclined Nix. The former was openly incensed, unafraid of displaying his rancor toward the elder and his compatriots, hand unconsciously fidgeting with his beard as he did. Supposedly, the two were interrupted in their search for a cart and beasts to pull it. At least, Dorusc assumed that to be the reason, however trivial it seemed.

With his body racked by age, Knor wasn't a very imposing figure while juxtaposed between the two ex-adventurers. In fact, he appeared a much smaller man between Regulus and Cirri, nearly obscured by their combined presence. Unperturbed by his frailty, he regarded his guests with a measured, yet austere look, "First, before we explain the reason for your summons, my apologies for pulling you away so abruptly from your day-"

"Damned right you are!" Yorn hissed.

"-however, guests or not, I have something to ask the four of you, who are under my care." He continued, straining that matter of obligation to the village's hospitality, "I assume you already know what you've been brought here for then, spellcaster?"

"Hmph."

"I see. Then Regulus, if you would?"

With a nod, the grizzled ex-adventurer addressed them in monotone, which seemed to mask a certain level of disdain for the recipients, "Tell us what you know about the burning forest."

Dorusc's view shifted toward Nix and Yorn. Nix cast a long, almost pleading look at Yorn, who merely scoffed.

"We saw what was left. There was nothing but ash, for acres, and acres. Now, I'm not sure why that could be, but I have a suspicion that it's related to you."

"We saw nothing, heard nothing. End of story."

Yorn's curt response unfazed his stony-faced colleague. "Oh? You didn't see a dragon-grade beast about? You didn't hear anything out of the ordinary? I'm very surprised, I wasn't aware people with working ears could be so deaf!"

"Yorn, we really should tell them," Zane interrupted.

"Our responsibility is only to you, Delark, not to some village bumpkins. We needn't tell them anything."

"What are you talking about, these people could be in danger if that monster shows up!"

"I said we needn't tell them a thing! Now let us handle this!"

Now that they mentioned it, Dorusc did recall a certain discussion between the four of them before their arrival in Hunt. He didn't think too much of it. It elucidated some points he'd largely ignored up until now. In particular, why Yorn warned not to tell the villagers of what transpired before his awakening. The sage was adamant about it, which intrigued Dorusc at the time.

Death. Scorched earth with nothing left but ashes. Imagery like it was something of a mystery to him. That said, it was an idle mystery, though it did lead the Aloof One to question why he awakened at that point in time. Better yet, why the vestiges of his spirit were attached to this mortal.

"I take it you refuse?"

Yorn met the steadfast gaze directed at him with contempt but remained silent.

"Then, for the sake of the village's safety..."

Summoned from the depths of his body, a halo of olive-green light enveloped the tall spellcaster. It stretched and, through some arcane morphology, shifted to accommodate an erect stance as he stood from the table. Unlike before, he bore an immensely formidable presence and stature. As though to amplify that, the air inside the elder's home began to churn, blowing bits of dust about and ruffling the open curtains hanging over a nearby window, "I will have to ask you again. Will you tell us what happened?"

"Regulus, that's enough."

"But elder..."

"Regulus. Please, I'd rather my home not be frozen and blown into the fiefdoms. We've enough to deal with as it is."

"..."

Reluctantly, he followed his senior's orders. The aura dimmed, vanishing into viridescent wisps as they receded into his body. Likewise, the frost that had accumulated at the tips of Yorn's fingers evaporated into steam. They didn't, however, lower their guards any.

Knor sighed at the farce of a meeting, "I understand that you have your reasons for withholding whatever you saw, but if it is as dangerous as your companion says, I cannot see the purpose-"

"You need to leave."

"Delark...!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't let them die."

Everyone's eyes turned to Zane. It was tense before, the animosity thrown between Yorn and Regulus until now was enough for that. Though his legs shook, the ruined merchant held his ground. In his mind, it was clear, just as if it happened moments ago. What happened that day.

But he could stand the needless tension no longer.

"You need to gather everyone in the village and run. It's a monster beyond anything you could fight. Massive, with four heads. Red flames grasped the sky. It led an army of wolves like itself."

That description. There was only one being like that. Dorusc had only ever seen them once, in Majestic's chambers on the day of his supposed execution. The Underworld was home to many monstrosities. Endlessly, they flowed from the depths; a tidal wave of despair in the eyes of any mortal. Demons were among them, intelligent beings that, like deities, possessed certain powers over the underworld. It wasn't inconceivable for them to be able to manipulate the mortal realm as they saw fit as well, though to a lesser degree. But for these mortals, and this world... if they were to traverse the dimensional veil between them, it was only a matter of time. While the lives of mortals were insignificant in his view, the view he had through this mortal's eyes wasn't. Any misfortunes that befell his host were cause enough for concern.

But presently, there was only one beast that resembled what this mortal saw.

A Cerberus. One of those hellhounds must have wandered its way through to this world as the veil weakened. If that were true, there wasn't much time left until it fully shattered. Though how much that was exactly, was impossible to know.

This was the kind of information Dorusc hoped for. Now he knew what the window showed him. There were some intimations, or rather a deeply buried idea that he put aside for fear of being right, that this world was Majestic's plaything. If he could even call it that. In any other world, there might be some chance of reviving his old power, to return the favor dealt him. But here...

Now I know the true reason the Exodus brought me here.

It wasn't to watch mortals, but rather to vanish with them when their world perished. So even his own creator had forsaken him.

If that's so, that even the Exodus would betray me... then I have no choice but to make it my enemy as well.

Meanwhile, Knor sat in silence. Amid the numerous strained expressions, with the exception of Falliva's stoic nirvana, his pensive expression seemed out of place.

"Run?" He replied.

"Yes, as far away as you can, with everyone you can." Zane urged.

"You misunderstand. Run where?"

"What are you saying? Anywhere!"

"It's not as simple as that, young Delark. Many in our village are old and have grown slow. I daresay their bones are just as fragile as mine these days. Do you expect them to run?"

"Then we'll carry them-"

"Everything we have. Everything we've known since Hunt's founding nearly a century ago is here. Even if we fled as you say, what would await us? Man can live without bread and water for some time, but without a home, or his pride, he will lose his life far sooner."

Yorn snorted.

"So you knew this?" The elder asked him.

"Of course. Do you take me for a young fool like those before you?"

"My apologies then. I assumed you meant us harm by not telling us. Is our future that bleak?"

"Couldn't get much worse."

"Then... is it possible for you and your party to-"

"I refuse."

"That's unfortunate then. With adventurers like you, we might have a chance... hah, I see."

Knor leaned backward in his chair to gaze up at the ceiling in contemplation, "Cirri, what do you think?"

She pointed at Yorn and Nix, "The obvious, I think we should heal these two before their wounds decide to fester."

"Ha, that's level thinking for you!"

"Do you mind?" She asked.

"Do what you like."

"Please, we'd appreciate it."

Cirri approached the two, her hands outstretched over Yorn and Nix. A dim yellow glow from her hands manifested tracery of the same from their heads, spreading across their bodies. The bandages on their wounds unraveled, wrapped neatly into rolls that Cirri then set aside on the floor. "This will sting a little."

"We have healers back at the guild, so we're well acquainted with the experience," Nix mentioned.

"Good."

Dorusc reeled slightly from a sense of revulsion through Zane. The bite wounds on Yorn's arms had become a very dark Carmine, unlike the blood that slowly seeped from it. As for Nix, his leg was completely flensed, skin melted from the limb, exposing heavily disfigured stands of muscle underneath. In places where the skin met closely with bone, there was no skin, instead white bone protruded through, bespeckled by small flecks of char across its surface. Fortunately, cauterization had mitigated any possible infection, and blood loss was unlikely, but the sight was horrifyingly morbid.

"My, you've been walking on this?" Cirri murmured, "Regenerating Light."

Dorusc knew of the power of magic in mortal worlds, of course. It was a common facet among many of them, often comprising the elements and various other affinities of nature, not far removed from the power of gods. Seeing this healing spell was rather commonplace, albeit rare from the mortal's point of view.

The burnt flesh and the wounds on Yorn's arms began to bubble and contort. Skin and flesh erupted from inside their limbs and rapidly spread over to cover the wounds, thoroughly sealing them, "Make sure to rest after this, I'm not using a healing spell like your guild's healers do. You'll feel a bit out of touch with your body until it adjusts to the loss of stamina."

"Thank you."

"It's only a healer's duty to take care of the wounded."

"With that settled, we have no reason to keep you any longer. You're free to go." Knor dismissed, ignoring the grumbling Regulus.

The four rose and turned to leave, but were met by a sudden heavy banging on the front door. Knor rose alongside Regulus to answer it. It was one of the extra guards left behind at the southern gate.

"Yes?" Knor inquired.

The young guard panted, clearly having jogged from the gate all the way to the elder's home. Between gasps, he made his report, "Elder, there's smoke rising from the forest."