Audren had often been in the Pantheon when still living in the Free City, to pay his respects to the mountain goddess. Though his home hadn't been too far away, the visits to her shrine reminded him of where he belonged and comforted him during his stay. Dyna had jokingly called him sappy for it, but Audren hadn't missed the homesick look in her eyes whenever she did choose to accompany him.

None of his previous visits had been quite so chaotic as this one, though.

The smell within the Pantheon filled him with horror; while those turned into Cursed within its walls had mostly left the building (he only had to cleave two undead heads), their stench remained, courtesy of the blood and patches of skin and hair littering the floor. If he'd had time, Audren would have taken a moment to empty his stomach, but he forced its contents to stay in his body as he rushed through the central hallway. That hallway, long, straight and topped by a high ceiling, stretched out before him all the way to the back of the building, where a fountain to refresh the thirsty stood. Audren imagined nobody had drunk from it in a while.

Breathing heavily as adrenaline rushed through his veins, he kept an eye on the little open rooms to his right, which housed a variety of shrines dedicated to gods great and small. The right side found itself in the east, he remembered, meaning Solmar's shrine would be there, not to his left. The sun rose in the east, after all. Audren's footsteps echoed loudly in the hall as he sped along further.

When he spotted Solmar's shrine, a euphoric feeling came over him. He'd built up so much momentum he barely skid to a halt in time to take his right turn. Leaving the central hall behind, he dove into the side room, double-checking to make sure he'd be alone in there.

No Cursed seemed to have an interest in revering the Sun God. Save for Audren's panting, it was dead quiet by the shrine; quiet and shadowy, for the candles people normally lit for the god stood untouched. The altar for Solmar's offerings was empty, too. Audren concluded the food, coin and miscellaneous possessions left there had been taken by survivors of the Cursed's onslaught. He couldn't blame them for the sacrilegious theft. Wasn't there a possibility he'd have done the same if his situation had called for it?

He wasn't here to take offerings and risk angering a god, though. He was here to please one. After allowing himself a brief moment to catch his breath, he cleared his throat and moved closer to the altar, gazing at the marble statue of Solmar behind it. Eyes painted golden in a young, bearded face stared him down. Audren bit his lip; he didn't understand why, but the depiction of the Sun God seemed to command respect, even more so than his own Goddess of the Mountains.

Nevertheless, he faced the statue, never breaking eye contact, and came to a halt by the altar, placing his hands on it. "Solmar, Lord of the Sun," he began slowly, still trying to find the right words.

It felt odd to be asking a favour of this god, like marching up to a nobleman he'd hardly interacted with and demanding to be given half the contents of his treasury at once. But he pressed on.

"I don't think I've ever given you anything," Audren admitted to the statue, "though I've never asked you for anything either. But today, I don't have a choice. As you must know, Avondor is cursed. The undead threaten my people. I have to save them. I need to break the curse. And I need your help to do it."

The statue didn't reply; of course it didn't. Audren hadn't expected to hear a sudden voice in his head or to see the god manifest before him to hear him out in person. He did, however, wonder if it had gotten warmer in the Pantheon. Was it his imagination, wishful thinking, or was it no coincidence he felt as if the sun had begun to illuminate his face?

"I'm looking for an alleged ancestor of yours," he explained. "The Countess of Santonshire. Lady Limnaia of House Acestor. I have reasons to believe she knows more about the curse… About the man who most likely created it. But I don't know if she's still alive, or where I'd have to go to find her."

He reached for the coin pouch fastened to his belt and took out a handful of gold nuggets. True mountain gold, the same that adorned his ears; the most valuable export product his lands had. Gently, Audren placed the nuggets on the altar, hoping the Sun God would accept his tribute. At least its colour matched his eyes.

"My offering to you," he stated. "If there is goodness in your heart, if you care about Avondor, please accept it and help me as fast as you can. I will be indebted to you forever. And on my word as Lord of the Mountains, I will tell my people about your aid and build you a shrine in my realm, with my bare hands if I have to. But such a shrine will not come if my people perish."

Audren was satisfied with his speech. He waited, ears pricked up and eyes wide open, determined not to miss any sign if it came. He still felt the statue's gaze on him, the warmth of the sun in a shadowy room. But had the god actually listened to him? And if he had, did he intend to help?

He had no clock or hourglass at his disposal, but felt as if he waited for ages. No sign. No miracle. Not a single indication at all that Solmar had heard him. No help.

Audren sighed.

Maybe Dyna had been right. This wasn't bringing him anywhere. It was just suicide. He'd latched on to a shred of hope he'd found like a naive child. Perhaps it was no surprise his plan was failing and he should've seen it coming.

But at least he'd tried. He'd done his best, even if it wasn't enough. That was still better than nothing, wasn't it? Wasn't it?

Defeat, he thought to himself, tastes more bitter than anything else.

"Sir?"

The voice came from behind him. Audren had a minor heart attack. He spun around as if stung, startled, and stared at the speaker incredulously. The longer he looked at her, the more confused he grew.

How did she get in here?

The person who had spoken to him was a little girl; if he had to guess her age, he'd say seven, maybe eight years old. Had she been in the Pantheon already? Perhaps by one of the shrines on the left side of the building, the side he'd paid no attention to?

The girl pushed a few stray locks of dark blonde hair out of her face and regarded him with inquisitive brown eyes. Audren supposed she liked the utter bewilderment he showed, for a big smile appeared on her face.

"Oh, so you are alive. It was hard to see. I thought I heard someone talking, but I wasn't sure if it was you."

Audren blinked; it took a while for the sentences she said to him to sink in. The girl sounded wrong; the way she spoke was harsher and sharper than he was used to, with an almost comical lilt to the words. Then it dawned on him she wasn't actually speaking Avondorian, but Karanthian.

The neighbouring country's language sounded rather similar to his own; so similar, in fact, that he'd perceived the girl's Karanthian to be nothing but distorted Avondorian. In spite of having learned the language's basics as a boy, Audren's Karanthian was rusty. When he replied to the child, he was sure he spoke Karanthianified Avondorian rather than proper Karanthian, but he hoped she'd understand.

"I'm… I'm alive, but… Little girl, what are you doing here? Where are your parents?"

Much to his relief, the girl didn't seem puzzled by his words. Her smile didn't fade; she seemed genuinely happy to see him. Oh, the innocence…

"Father is in the inn with the others. I was just out to check what's going on in the city now. And then I thought I could pass by the Pantheon and ask your gods if they could make everything normal again." Her expression soured slightly. "They don't seem to listen."

Audren was too occupied making sense of the child's presence to think about how relatable that was. "Hold on, hold on… What are you saying?"

The girl ignored this question completely; her eyes had drifted to the gold in Audren's ears. "Oh, that looks so amazing, sir! Are you rich? Do you live in a castle? I've always wanted to live in a castle!"

Children.

"Your father lets you go out alone? While the city is filled with the undead?" Audren asked, determined to not be thrown off track. What kind of horrible parent sent a child away under circumstances like these? Just thinking about it alone made him angry. And why wasn't this child scared or sad? She seemed… Normal. But how could any child be normal while civilisation collapsed?

His questions earned him a nod. "Yes, but it's okay. They look scary, but they don't hurt me, so I don't need to be afraid of them."

Audren stood speechless. They don't hurt me? What was that supposed to mean? Had he lost his mind, or was this child telling him the Cursed left her alone? How? Why? That wasn't possible. He'd seen the Cursed roaming about fallen villages, had seen the desperation and hunger in their eyes while he stood on the ferry, out of reach. But the girl seemed to imply she could walk among the Cursed without a care in the world.

That made no sense. That made no sense at all.

"Are you okay, sir?" the girl asked, looking vaguely concerned. "You look a little…"

Audren had no idea what the final Karanthian word she said was, but he was certain it was something along the lines of deranged. He snapped out of his stupor, came to his senses. He could get to the bottom of this later. The facts were that his plea to Solmar had failed and that Terry stood outside, defending the Pantheon from far too many Cursed. They needed to get out of here as fast as they could.

An inn. The girl had mentioned an inn, where her father and 'the others' were. Maybe not all was lost yet. Maybe those people had information that could prove useful in breaking the Curse. If the Cursed weren't interested in this child, was it possible her father knew why? Audren didn't know much, but he did know he absolutely wanted a word with that man.

"Young lady," he began, hurried, "do you think you could take my friend and I to the inn you mentioned? I would really like to talk to your father."

A hint of skepticism appeared in the child's gaze. She took a small step back. "Father always says to be careful around strangers. But… You could die out here if I leave you, won't you?"

Well… It certainly wasn't implausible.

"Yes. Yes, my friend and I both."

The girl nodded solemnly, smile slowly reappearing. "I think Father would want me to bring you to the inn, then. My name is Gemella. If you tell me yours, you can come with me."

"Audren," Audren replied. "Lord of the Mountains."

Gemella's eyes shone with wonder, as if Audren was her favourite minstrel coming back to perform in town after a year of absence. As she gestured for him to follow and started skipping in the direction of the entrance, she gushed more about castles and riches, glory and banquets and clothing of the finest velvets and silks.

Audren let her talk, not minding the chatter. He focused on what was still to come. Nothing seemed to be going according to plan, but he'd take this opportunity to find answers with both hands. Otherwise he and Terry would simply have to go back home and their journey would have been for naught. They couldn't give up now.

This is fine, he thought to himself as he and Gemella came closer and closer to Pantheon's exit. Strange, but fine. I can handle it. I can work with this.

And then he saw the skeletons.