The rest of the desert crossing was uneventful. The cooling of air as the terrain switched to heath and woodland brought much-needed relief.

They made sure to stay on the western outskirts of the wooded areas, as common sense and travellers’ tales dictated to travel in groups or avoid the thicker forest completely.

Once upon a time, Xellie would have regarded such warnings as myths and urban legends to impress listeners at home. However, she had learned to take these warnings to heart.

The path they followed was a rocky one, winding along the peaks of the hills, overlooking the sea.

The sunlight danced on the crests of the waves, contrasting with the inky black patches that surfaced and then dissipated into the blueness.

The sea was known to be just as deadly as the desert. Not only was it haunted by various ghosts and demons, but the entire area was covered in jagged rocks and deceptive shallows.

However, if anyone walking this path didn’t have that knowledge, they would consider it a natural beauty spot.

Xellie walked along quietly, leading the trio, thinking over all the knowledge she had gained over this adventure so far.

Her mother was a Valkyrie who spoke of having made sacrifices without regret despite the pain.

Vella had spoken lovingly of Raye but was saddened by Raye not remembering her past.

On top of this, apparently, Xellie was the only Valkyrian child alive. But why?

The city walls of Hafenstad came into view. Contrasted to Anshara’s neat sandstone and granite construction, Hafenstad’s walls stood tall, a mix of wood, flint and dry stone walling.

A guard stood before the city gates, glancing them over before waving them through. Xellie noted that their security seemed rather lax and that meant there could be a lot of hidden demons within the city.

The narrow streets stood lined with wooden framed houses with steep, pitched roofs and decorative timberwork. The sun shone brightly through the few gaps, creating narrow beams on the cobbled streets.

“There is something creepy about this place,” Mattos commented, watching the occasional resident scurry by on their daily business.

“There’s no wildlife sounds...” Ary whispered. “But there were so many birds outside the walls before we arrived.”

“This whole place used to be a port for shipping goods up and down the coast,” Xellie explained, as she headed in the direction she thought would be toward the sea. The narrow alleys and streets opened up to a dilapidated and ruined port. The stone quay jutted out into the misty sea, cracked and broken. “Anyway, so they thought they could fight the demons here as the town used to get invaded from the sea. The issue was, no matter what they did, ships would be lost. That was the end of their livelihood in shipping. There’s some hidden forts and stuff... it’s really cool if you wanted to explore it. But one day the demons just suddenly stopped attacking unless they went too far out to sea.”

Xellie jumped over some rubble and clambered down to the water edge, where a small rowboat was tied to a rusted mooring post.

“You’re going to steal a boat now?” Mattos asked, shaking his head.

“You know it’s to save a lot of lives!” Xellie turned to Mattos, wagging her finger. “Sometimes, you have to step on a few toes to get the job done.”

“I thought we were staying here for the night anyway,” he sighed.

“We will! Look over there.” Xellie pointed through the mist to a small island in the bay. “That is Luina Island. It’s named after some plant that grows there. Anyway, there’s a demon hunter sanctuary and an entire base on there. They haven’t used it for combat in years, but uhm, my parents would take us on vacation to it. It’s a really pretty place and... Well... it’s free?”

“You just don’t want to pay for an inn?” Ary asked.

“I don’t want to see any townsfolk caught up in anything if we’re being chased. They can’t chase us there.” Xellie sighed. “And I don’t know about you two, but I would kill someone for a decent night of sleep without worrying about this and that attacking us.”

“Yeah, okay.” Mattos climbed down into the boat and took hold of the oars. Ary slipped in after him.

After a considerable amount of rowing, they reached the small island and tied the boat at the bottom. Stairs cut into the stony cliffs led the way to the top, where the grass was short, kept that way by rabbits. A handful of birds sat atop the ivy-covered two-storey stronghold, chattering happily.

“It does feel very safe here,” Ary commented in surprise. “Even the birds are happy.”

“Of course, the official sanctuaries have the strongest protection spells there are to offer.” Xellie walked to the cliff edge and pointed down. “Look at how the water is blue here and then suddenly turns black. That’s where the barrier ends around the island.”

“Wow.” Mattos gave a whistle in admiration. “That’s one heck of a barrier.”

“I think my mother made them. She was... uh... is... a very powerful priestess.”

“I thought she was a .... you know what, never mind.” Mattos muttered.” You’re sure ALL the protection spells are still working?”

Xellie ran up the stairs, throwing open the door to each room until she found the one she was looking for. A bedroom with a huge balcony overlooking the island out toward the sea. Looking around the island and then out to sea, Xellie could see a faint blue haze distorting the view outwards.

“Yeah, it’s still working! But if you want to put one up to be double safe, you can!” she yelled back over her shoulder as she lifted herself onto the balcony railings to sit and enjoy the view. Out in the distance, the peninsula on which the Plains of Illr were located was visible across the sea.

The land even looked evil from this distance. Perhaps she was hallucinating it, but there seemed to be a dark mist emanating from the plains over the sea.

This could be it. The beginning of her last adventure.

I should be terrified.

Yet, rather than trepidation, she felt a kind of excitement - which in of itself was scary. Most people would have backed down at the thought of crossing the plains, let alone facing a demon lord at the end of it all.

The important thing was to fight. To fight so fiercely that she couldn’t be captured. Raye would be watching after all, and death wasn’t the scariest thing about this battle. If she won, this would make a real difference in the world. If she didn’t, at least someone had tried. The most important thing, however, was that Niko would be proud of her. How could he not be? For years she had been pushed aside and hidden away while Niko went and became a local hero.

As she continued her introspection, Mattos and Ary had been exploring the rest of the stronghold. On top, it looked like a solidly built holiday home, but in the basement were barracks and training rooms.

Mattos cooked for the group, using a rabbit they caught outside, and they retired for the night in the bedrooms upstairs.

-----

The next day, Xellie and Mattos spent most of the afternoon training their combat skills in the yard. Xellie focused most of her attention on practising her movement, running, dodging and jumping, while Mattos was practising using his shield magic to protect her.

The training session was exhausting for them both. Mattos was not used to shielding people who were moving around so much, or so fast.

As they relaxed for the evening, a quiet rap sounded at the door. Xellie and Mattos looked at each other in surprise, unsure of what to do.

There was another knock at the door.

Xellie pointed to Mattos, silently gesturing for him to draw his sword. Drawing her own sword, she undid the deadbolt and cracked the door open just slightly so she could see who was out there.

“Tane?” she gasped, holding the door so he couldn’t push it open. “What do you want?”

“To talk. Can we talk? Just talk?” Tane pleaded. “If I was going to assault you, I wouldn't have knocked.”

Xellie opened the door to let Tane in, hurriedly closing it behind him and holding her sword up to his throat.

“Okay talk.”

Mattos came closer, also holding his sword up to Tane.

“Woah, please.” Tane held his hands up. “You were right about Deena. I think she’s trapped inside that dead body, or something.”

“Ya think?” Xellie rolled her eyes.

“Talynn came to us,” Tane explained hurriedly, eyeing the swords pointed at him. “She just didn’t... she didn’t even know him...”

“I knew he was working with you,” Xellie grumbled, lifting her sword slightly from where she had gotten tired of holding it straight.

“Yeah, how?” Tane asked.

“You’re a snake. Only an idiot like you would call yourself Viper.”

“Oh, what?” Tane huffed. “Do these people know about... you know... your family?”

Xellie nodded.

“So, let me explain. Deena came to me one day... I had no idea she was out there. And she told me that Ashmeviti had revived her to help him in his mission involving you. I was... I was never good after Deena died... I just wanted to be near her and hearing that a demon lord had plans for you was too juicy to ignore.”

“So what’d he tell you?” Xellie narrowed her eyes, scrutinising Tane’s panicked face for lies.

“He told me that without intervention you will turn into a death-seeking, death-attracting creature. And how it will psychologically destroy you because you’re not going to like it. People will die around you and there’s nothing you can do... Deena was just one of the first of many... So apparently he has a plan.”

Xellie lowered her sword with a sigh.

“You could have just TOLD me this and skipped all the violence and general humiliation.”

“Sorry, I guess.” Tane shrugged, looking at Mattos’ sword nervously. “In my defence, you wouldn’t have listened anyway.”

“Probably true.” Xellie gestured to Mattos to lower his sword. “Are you contracted? To Ashmeviti?”

“Yeah, but, well... frankly, after the shit he pulled with Deena, I don’t care. This is a safe place. You know people who can help me escape it. And please... Help me save Deena?”

“I can’t say no to that, but uh... Raye said....”

“Oh, so you talk to Raye?” Tane laughed at Xellie’s expression of horror as she realised she had made a mistake mentioning Raye.

“Who’s Raye?” Mattos asked.

“Just some really angry priestess,” Tane responded nonchalantly. “So what did Raye say?”

“She’s not sure Deena can be saved.”

“Or she just wants another soul to reap,” Tane muttered almost inaudibly. “Anyway! We owe it to Deena to at least find out if that’s the case, don’t we?”

“Agreed.”