They remained in the Wisteria inn for the rest of the day, making use of the opportunity to rest. Audren knew Terry needed it; magic was tiring, she'd said, and it would be safer to travel when she'd regained her energy. And, truth be told, he needed to rest himself as well. The muscles in his limbs ached and he doubted his ability to behead the Cursed or run away from them if a situation called for it in that state. Rushing to Nymphenwald with haste would be most unwise.

He thanked Denys Farano a thousand times for his hospitality; the innkeeper allowed him and the mage to stay a while longer, to eat with him and his guests and to get a bit of sleep before departing. Of course, this did benefit the man indirectly: he wished to see the curse broken and did everything in his power to contribute to Audren and Terry's success. But he didn't have to, Audren reminded himself, and the fact that he did was uplifting. Proof that the world wasn't broken and humanity not beyond saving.

It was early in the morning when they left, the sky still dark for the most part, the first rays of the sun peeking over the horizon. The sun rose in the east, the direction Nymphenwald lay in and the direction in which they thus needed to set out. Audren had carried the dead dog out into the alley, disgusted by its smell and the disease-marred condition of the corpse, but his encounters with the undead had been worse.

While Terry kept watch so the Cursed wouldn't surprise them, Audren placed the dog on the ground and used his sword to cut it open. It's like hunting, he told himself, like skinning a rabbit or impaling a boar. Telling himself that didn't help as much as he wanted it to. He couldn't help but feel like a monster or a freak as he smeared the dog's blood all over him: in his hair, across his cheeks, and his hands, of course, remained reddest of all. He was sure the warm blood with its awful metallic scent would soak into his clothes and he would never be able to wash it out.

"There's one advantage to this," Terry announced drily while giving herself the same treatment, stone-faced. Audren suspected she'd used an anti-nausea spell or something similar, if such a thing even existed. "Even if it won't keep the Cursed out of our hair, ill-intentioned humans won't want to come into our general vicinity at all."

Cold comfort, he supposed, was better than no comfort at all.

As they made their way to the eastern city gate, still avoiding the main roads, they found that Denys Farano's theory had been correct, at least to an extent. Cursed shambling about in the distance wouldn't pay attention to the two humans; those located closer would show confusion on their faces and choose to either ignore them or get closer. Audren imagined they decided based on how hungry they were. Once the Cursed got too close, though, the smell of human began to overpower the scent of dog and the creatures realised they'd been tricked. So the lord and the mage steered clear of larger groups of Cursed and kept their distance as much as possible, occasionally killing the undead monsters who'd been unfortunate enough to see through their illusion.

Once they'd managed to leave the Free City behind them, they continued to travel on foot through Santonshire in the direction of Nymphenwald, until they came across a small farmer's village where living horses still grazed in an enclosed field. After Audren had separated the cursed stablehand's head from his body, Terry's spellwork kept the animals calm enough to allow the pair to use two of them for travel. While Audren had been taught that stealing was bad growing up and this technically classified as theft, he was fairly certain the animals' owners were no longer alive and could justify the action that way. Travelling on horseback also meant they'd reach Nymphenwald hours sooner.

"You know," Terry said when they were well on their way and the sun had risen properly, "it might be a good idea to let your sister know about... the blood thing. It's more information about the curse that might be useful to the people at home."

Audren agreed wholeheartedly, but found the statement odd regardless. "I mean, you're not wrong," he replied, "but, um... we can't just contact Dyna from here. Even if you did find a way to send a letter, it wouldn't reach her anytime soon. Although..." he blinked. "You're making a habit out of suggesting seemingly impossible things and then revealing they're possible through magic, aren't you?"

The mage nodded, a slight smile forming on her face. "You're starting to figure it out."

What followed was the umpteenth incomprehensible spell. Audren watched in fascination and confusion as an object began to appear in the sky, something small and round; he saw the shape form, transparent at first, until it slowly materialised and became a clear crystal ball. The whole thing reminded him of a child making a drawing, sketching it out, perfecting the work and colouring it in neatly.

The lord stared at the object Terry had called forth, maybe even created out of thin air. "Where in the name of the gods did that come from?"

"The Cloud," Terry announced casually, as if this was common knowledge in Avondor and he was the only person not in on the joke. Audren glanced up at the sky on instinct. "Think of it as another realm, not unlike the Spirit Realm, but empty. Just empty space. You can store magical objects you own there and call them here if you need them. You just need to modify the base spell so it applies to your personal belongings and you're good to go."

Right. Audren didn't think his brain could handle more magical explanations than strictly necessary today and decided not to pry. Instead, he focused on the crystal ball. "I always thought mages using crystal balls for... magical purposes... was a fable or a stereotype."

"It's not. You can use these crystall balls to communicate with someone else who owns one. I thought it could be useful to let Dyna borrow one before we left. She can't contact us with it without magic of her own, but we can contact her."

Had Terry given one of these things to Dyna? Clever. Audren hadn't even realised they'd spoken the night before they ventured out of the mountains. Then again, his mind had been otherwise occupied and he'd slept in early that night, to get enough rest before leaving the following morning. He'd requested to be left alone, so if Terry had shown up in his castle looking for Dyna, it wasn't strange he hadn't been notified of her presence.

The mage uttered another spell as Audren watched the crystall ball, eager to see what would happen. Slowly, the ball darkened, becoming a shadowy black. Terry frowned. "Dyna? Are you there?"

Then there was sound. Audren heard it muffled at first, couldn't quite make out the words, though the voice undoubtedly belonged to his sister. What little he could understand sounded frustrated and uncharacteristically vulgar. Terry handed him her magical orb and he watched it grow lighter, the sky coming into view shakily, along with what he recognized to be an old house in Anahill's main street. It appeared his sister had kept the crystal ball in a bag and had taken it out. She fumbled with it a while longer, until she held it in such a way he could see her face. He adjusted his own orb and hoped she could see his face as well.

"Terry? Audren?" The pitch of Dyna's voice was higher than it usually was, her eyes wide, pupils oddly dilated. The composure she'd had during the last council meeting the lord had attended seemed far away and her hands were twitchy, for his vision through the ball remained shaky, even though she had stopped walking. "What is... is that blood?"

"Don't worry about it," Audren quickly clarified. "It's not our blood."

"That doesn't make it better at all, but thank the gods you're both still alive. Where are you now? Did you find the countess? Discover anything about the curse? What's it like out there right now?"

Dyna's questions were fired at him within what felt like roughly two seconds, so fast did she speak. Audren frowned. His sister usually took her time speaking, as if she needed to personally weigh every word. This change was alarming.

"Hold on for a moment, just one moment. Did you sleep last night?"

"What? No. Why are you asking?"

"I get the feeling you've taken illicit substances to stay awake and alert."

"There was a lot to be done, still is," his sister replied, which Audren took to mean that's true, especially since her left eye twitched as she said so. "Overseeing fortifications and rationing, keeping an eye on the approach of the Cursed, evacuating people from the nearby villages and bringing them within the city walls, finding food and drink for everyone, all of that stuff. But it's going smoothly! The Cursed are a few hours away, the scouts say, but we'll be ready for their siege when it comes. I'm keeping everything here as organised as possible, Ambassador Valskis has been a great help-"

"Dyna..."

"-Unlike that damned Augustus Ramagi, I swear, did I tell you what he did? No, of course I didn't, we're only talking just now, but the thing is, he somehow got into our wine cellar and drank himself into a stupor on the floor. We've decided to just leave him there."

The end of the world truly did have strange effects on people.

"Dyna. I'm glad to hear everything's fine at the homefront, but slow down if you still can, will you? We've got some information about the curse you might find useful. It's why we're covered in blood."

"Oh, really? Let's hear it." The look his sister gave him made Audren think she had already forgotten about his bloodied state, mind racing faster than a lynx on the prowl.

"The Cursed only attack humans," he explained, "not animals. If you coat yourself in animal blood and keep a bit of distance from the undead, they won't be drawn to you. Do you have that noted? Spread the word, because it might end up making a difference between life and death."

He saw Dyna nod enthusiastically. "Yes, noted, thank you. That is useful. We'll need to tell people with caution so they won't start rashly murdering animals we might need for food production, but I'll at least tell our remaining scouts. When do you think you're coming back? Are you making any progress with curse-breaking?"

Audren smiled. "We're following a lead to Nymphenwald. It's getting increasingly more likely the countess lived and we think she might be there. Hopefully we can find her soon, and then we can truly start figuring out how to break this curse."

"That's fantastic news." His sister smiled back at him, eyes twitching dangerously again. "I'll have to rush and get this information to the scouts before they set out. Be safe, alright? I'll look forward to your return."

Audren said his own goodbyes and with another spell, Terry broke their connection. The lord handed her the crystal ball back, sighing. His sister seemed to be having a time. Not a good time, not a bad time. Simply a time.

But at least his home and the people in it were still safe.

"Didn't you want to talk to Dyna, too?" Audren asked the mage. "You were her best friend until you left for the Institute."

She shrugged. "We should catch up, but not now. She's busy, and... we are where we need to be."

She pointed ahead and Audren studied what lay ahead with her; he'd been so focused on his conversation with Dyna that he'd let himself pay less attention to his surroundings, trusting Terry to be observant for two. Now that he looked properly, he saw an old stone bridge over a river, dense woodland on the other side. An old wooden sign stood next to the bridge and he read the words written on it, squinting to read through the green algae.

'Warning – Nymphenwald ahead

Be mindful of the nymphs'

Audren stared at the sign for a long time. Nymphs could be friendly or hostile, but there was little way to know which it would turn out to be. He always preferred to steer clear of them.

There was no time to hesitate now, though.

"Come," he told Terry, urging his horse to approach the bridge. "We have a countess to find."