The silence inside the cart was unbearably uncomfortable. Clive kept staring at Glavas, desperately trying to find something to talk about, while the elven hunter had nothing better to do than to gaze out of the little cart window, watching as nature passed them by.

"Umm... we're almost there." Clive made an attempt at a conversation.

"I know."

"Shall we maybe... go over a plan at least?"

"The plan is that I will go inside and fetch my kids."

"Right, right, that's good. That's a solid base. Although maybe we could, perhaps, try to come up with something that might actually help us?"

Glavas finally turned his head around and gave the detective his attention. "Listen, I'm done making plans. We know where they are and I will get them. No thinking. The more I think, the worse it gets."

"The dark magic," Clive muttered and watched as Glavas once again began looking elsewhere. "How much have you been using it in the past few weeks?"

Glavas did not respond. He did not have any specific unit of measurement he could tell Clive anyway. All he knew is that a few years ago, so much use of his innate magic would drive him insane.

"The mist can help us," Glavas eventually mumbled and looked at the milky-white coat covering the forest outside. "They won't see us coming. At least not at first."

"Indeed. Perks of being friends with a few druids."

Glavas looked at Clive and raised an eyebrow. "You did this?"

"Not exactly, but I do have some contacts among the local druids, so I asked them to conjure up a mist for us today."

"But we've been travelling for a while. How did you know you'd find me and we'd go against Ruun specifically today?"

Clive smirked. "I am a very good detective," he said and sipped some coffee from his canteen. "There is one more thing you should keep in mind though."

"Hmm?"

"There are hostages. Ruun knows about the magic you used to decimate Rotler, so he made sure the place is full of innocent people. The scoundrels will not hesitate to use them against you and frankly speaking, I am strictly against killing them."

"Hmm... I knew using that spell would be tricky. Don't worry. I wasn't counting on it anyway. Can't risk it hurting Alma or Surdi."

"Ah, good."

Once again the silence slowly began creeping into the cart, yet Glavas quickly tried to vanquish it.

"I've been thinking, you know?"

"About what?"

"What you told me. About killing Ruun's people."

"Yeah. So?"

"Ruun was very... forward. Perhaps I should be the same."

"In what way?"

"I will tell his people why I have come. They will all get a chance to leave or lay down their weapons. If they don't, however, I will kill them."

"Glavas–"

"No. I will not compromise, Clive. I hate them. I hate all of those who associated themselves with that monster. But I will give them the chance to walk away. And if they don't, well, that's on them."

Millie was sitting on the roof of one of the buildings of the dwarven town. Most of the city was inside the mountain behind her, but that would be way too difficult to defend, so everyone got assigned a location outside, atop the few houses that the dwarves had not constructed inside the rocky womb of the mountain. The mists that fell onto the nearby area were making Millie incredibly uneasy. Unlike before, she could not even see her companions. They would only sometimes give each other signals by waving their torches, but even the orange glow of a flame was hard to spot. Millie nervously reached for her torch, ready to wave it at the others, when a voice suddenly came from behind her.

"Hey there. Want a–"

"AAAAAAAA!" she yelled and almost struck the incoming dragon.

"Millie?!" another one of her companions yelled at her from beyond the mist. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah! That was just Vainam!" she explained, which immediately put everyone else at ease.

"Hey there, I brought you some potatoes," the dragon said and put down a small plate of baked potatoes next to the young woman.

"Thanks."

"Sorry if I scared you. Say, are you... okay? You look a little pale?" he said and sat down beside her.

"Kinda. I mean... master Ruun is actually doing it, right?"

"Yeah. Today's the day. Finally, the demon kind shall be free."

"But the hunter has not yet arrived."

"Maybe he won't make it."

"Don't be stupid. You know far too well what is going to happen."

"You afraid of the mist?"

"It's not a coincidence. I don't buy it. I bet he's coming. I can feel it."

"Are you... scared?"

"You aren't?"

Vainam sighed. "Of course I am. Honestly, I am not too worried about dying. It's just that... I don't think he's going to kill me in a very... nice way, you know?"

"Y-Yeah, I can imagine."

"Why didn't you leave?"

"I owe master Ruun everything. He gave me another chance at life. I won't waste it."

"Some might consider throwing it away here as wasting it."

"I'd rather die here than live on, knowing that I abandoned those who pretty much became my second family."

"Awww..." he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer. "Don't worry, we'll make it yet."

Deep inside the mountain, Yurna watched as her companion visibly twitched when looking through the little window of the prison door.

"Is he still staring?" she asked.

"Yeah. It's creepy as fuck. He knows something. Something bad is coming," Kras commented on what he saw inside.

"You're being paranoid."

"Paranoid?! The little dragon quickly became docile when we brought him in here. Don't you think that's weird? That he let his sister be so easily? And all this time, he was just there, reading what we gave him or just sleeping."

"And what is he doing now?"

"Standing there. Just... like a statue. And staring at us. At the door."

"Maybe he's casting a spell?"

"I doubt that. He would've already done something if that was the case. It's been like this for hours."

"Has he blinked?"

"Yeah. But only a few times."

"Well, let's not focus on that, alright?"

"Easy for you to say."

"Look, if you're scared, you should've left."

"And leave master Ruun? You crazy? I might be afraid but I am not a traitor! How many times has he risked his neck for us?"

"Many."

"Many times! Exactly! So now, we'll do the same for him." He paused for a moment. "Though... I am kinda glad we're just guarding the kid and aren't on the front lines."

"Yeah. As if the staring little dragon is a better company."

Back outside, the fog was slowly sowing the seeds of unease into everyone's heart. From time to time, cries for help could be heard coming from the mist, as one of the prisoners suddenly felt a particularly strong wave of hope. Their captors, however, always quickly silenced them.

"That fucking asshole bit me!" Millie complained as she returned to her post. In the distance, she saw a silhouette of her friend, who came to join her recently. "Can you believe that? I just put a gag in his mouth and he was acting as if I came to finish him off. Seriously, I hate having to deal with prisoners!" she kept on complaining as she approached her companion. It didn't take long for the mists to part in front of her, allowing her to perfectly see the person sitting on the roof she was supposed to guard. To her surprise, it wasn't Vainam.

"Ilen? What the hell are you doing here?" she said and sat down beside him on the edge of the roof. "Aren't you supposed to be guarding the building east of here?"

"I... I don't want to be alone," he slowly replied.

"Alone? I see. So Tanim never came back, huh?"

"No," Ilen whimpered. "I owe that guy so much," he yelped, sobbing.

"I know," Millie said in the softest voice she could muster. "You two were close, right?"

"Yeah. I never told him how I really felt. And now, it's too late."

"Maybe not. Maybe he's still out there somewhere, hiding from the hunter."

"We both know that is not the case. The hunter is merciless. We've already lost too many to his rampage."

"Well..." Millie gave her planned words a thought before she finally said them out loud. "We're all probably gonna die pretty soon. Maybe you'll be together in no time."

Ilen gave her a slightly disgusted look. "For a healer, you are sometimes incredibly insensitive, you know?"

"Sorry," Millie muttered. "I don't know what else I can say to help you."

"You don't have to say anything. But... mind staying with me? J-Just for a moment?"

"Sure. Let's stay here. I don't want to guard this place alone either."

As regret over unspoken feelings plagued Ilen's mind, a few streets towards the west, a pair of dwarves had a completely opposite problem.

"M-Miora?! Have you fucking lost your mind?!" Marion yelled at her as he saw her kneeling in front of him with a copper ring in hand.

"Nope. I don't want to waste any more time. We're gonna die soon and I want you to know how I feel."

"You want to marry me?! Where? In the afterlife?!"

"No, you dumbass! Here! Now!"

"There's no priest!"

"Do we need one?"

"Y-Yeah?! That's the whole point of a marriage!"

"Well, it's not like we can maintain traditions right now. We need to hurry the fuck up."

"Miora! You can't... It's just too much!"

"Come on, Mari, don't leave me hanging. What if I become a ghost who can't pass on because my beloved turned me down."

"Are you trying to blackmail me into marrying you?!"

"Umm..."

"Oh my god, you are!"

"Come on, why not?!"

"Because it's crazy!"

"Is it because you don't love me?"

Marion sighed. Miora had always been a terrifying ex-serial killer and a resident knife expert. She had a tough exterior and sometimes, the mannerisms of a sociopath. Therefore, seeing her now, kneeling there, asking him to marry her only about ten seconds after she had confessed her feelings to him, was truly a stunning experience.

"Miora, listen," she said and kneeled down in front of her. "I can't deny that... well–"

"You love me too, don't ya?" she asked with a smug smirk.

"W-What?! Can you let me finish?!"

"Aha! I can see it on your face! It's so red!"

"Miora!"

"Yes?"

"Ugh! Fine, fine, you are right. I do have some feelings for you," he sighed and sat down on the floor. "But can you blame me? You were always such a badass. We were a team. I dealt with the conversations and you did the stabbing. An unstoppable duo!"

"Yeah, that's why master Ruun's always been giving us the important jobs."

"Right? We were reliable. And... well, I do admit that after spending so much time with you... I... yeah, I have felt something towards you."

"Past tense?"

"Ugh! Yes, present tense as well. I do feel something towards you!"

"Yay! Then take the ring, idiot!"

"Come on! Miora, this isn't marriage."

"Yes, it is! You give rings to each other. I have mine already. Then you're bonded!"

"Look, maybe we should consider dating first? I mean, what if we survive this and then we'll just be haphazardly married on–" he stopped for a while. The silence of the mist was broken by something. A sound that felt like it was trying to tear their ears off. One that reminded them of a dying screech of breaking metal and invoked feelings of immense anger and frustration.

The eyes of the dwarves turned to the side, looking towards the main street leading out of the city. At the far end of it, they could see something - a dark silhouette slowly approaching, bringing the terrifying tune closer and closer with each step. Neither of the two could bring themselves to look away. Marion quietly took the ring from Miora and slid it onto his finger.

"So?" Miora asked quietly.

"I do," Mario replied and reached for his knife.