Kyla couldn’t believe she wasn’t out in the streets, ripping her clothes apart and screaming uncontrollably. Her mind had been stretched beyond recognition, yet all she tried to do was calm herself and take everything in.

  Her experience in the Harrowing should have ended the strange events plaguing her. Since she woke up, she had been trying to downplay everything. Her mind demanded answers to questions she couldn’t even comprehend, so she forced herself to focus on something else.

  She wondered what would happen to her now. Would she become a merchant like Mia, who might very well be a slave trader? Or would she get the chance to apply to the Queen’s army?

  Her thoughts were interrupted when the boy opened his eyes. Their discussion pulled her mind away from the crushing weight pressing down on it. But the relief was brief. The thoughts returned the moment a strange-looking man stepped out of a mirror.

  “I need to get out of this room,” Kyla said. She hated enclosed spaces, and her spiraling thoughts were only making it worse. She closed her eyes and repeated, “I need to get out of this room.”

  Reece glanced at her. “Glory?” he called, using the nickname he’d given her.

  “I need to leave. I need…” Her breaths became uneven, her palms tightening into fists.

  “Open your eyes.”

  The strange man’s voice reached her, calm and steady, and somehow she believed him.

  She opened her eyes.

  They were no longer in the cramped infirmary.

  They stood in a vast green field. The sun hid behind heavy clouds, but its redness bled across the sky like paint on canvas. Kyla inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with fresh air.

  “How?” she asked.

  The man smiled. “My name is Erous White. This is my wife, Lorna, and my son, Reece.” He glanced at Reece with narrowed eyes before adding, “In case you’re wondering why he doesn’t look as good as we do, he’s adopted.”

  Kyla forced a polite smile.

  “I apologize for forcing you into this situation,” Erous continued. “You are a third party, and that gives you a clearer perspective on what happened. Lorna also mentioned that it was reported that your eyes can glow.”

  Kyla turned sharply to Reece, frowning.

  “I didn’t tell him. Or Mom,” Reece said quickly.

  “Marius told me,” Lorna replied.

  Erous folded his arms. “I imagine you’re deciding whether you can trust us. But I don’t think that should concern you right now.”

  “And why is that?” Kyla asked.

  She found it strange that these were the very people Mia had sent her to see. The realization unsettled her. If they were slave traders, they could simply kill her and be done with it.

  But why would sages need to sell children to Eleinberg? It wasn’t as though they lacked money. It was overwhelming enough standing before three thaumaturges at once. Two sages. Her head spun. She wanted to kick something.

  “Because the Church will likely question you next,” Erous said. “And they won’t be pleased to learn that a girl with glowing eyes came from the same place a demon was vanquished.”

  He showed his teeth in a thin, humorless smile.

  “They are known to burn heretical suspects alive.”

  Kyla studied the three of them. “Alright,” she sighed. “I don’t feel like I have a choice.”

  So she spoke.

  After recounting the events once more, she received a different reaction from Erous and Lorna.

  “Hobly is trading slaves?” Lorna demanded. “You gave him a permit.” She shot her husband a furious look.

  “He’s family. There was nothing about slavery the last time we spoke,” Erous said before turning to Kyla. “Are you certain?”

  “I nearly died because of it. So yes. I’m certain.”

  Erous’s smile thinned. “That would be Shilly’s influence. I’ll visit him tonight.”

  “No,” Lorna replied firmly. “You’ve done enough. I will go.”

  Erous didn’t argue. He turned to Reece instead.

  “We’ve heard her account. What’s yours? How did a simple reconnaissance errand become a battle with a demon that left four soldiers dead?”

  Reece sighed and began recounting everything. By the time he finished, Kyla’s jaw hung open.

  “Dragons,” she said slowly. “So you walked into a room with a naked woman, a wall made of rotting flesh, and nine corpses pretending to be alive.” She paused. “And your first instinct was to grab her by the neck.”

  Reece scoffed, then sighed. “It feels like I caused a lot of deaths.”

  Kyla had questions. Many of them. But when she opened her mouth, only one escaped.

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  “The flesh on the wall. Was it still alive when you left?”

  “Alive is a strong word,” Reece muttered.

  “Gold-blooded,” Erous cut in. “That’s what they called you. I assume you understand what that means?”

  “Yes,” Reece replied evenly. “I’m from a demigod bloodline.”

  “Half human, half demigod,” Erous corrected. “That narrows things considerably. We’ll discuss that later. For now, what did the demon whisper to Al Sahim? Did either of you hear it?”

  Reece shook his head.

  “I did,” Kyla said quietly. “When my eyes glow, my senses heighten.”

  All three turned toward her.

  “He said three things,” she continued. “I only understood two. The third was in a language I don’t know.”

  “We’ll take what we can get,” Erous said.

  “The first was that the Vile Alley leads beneath the Silk Trees, and that’s where they’ll find it.” She exhaled. “Then he said, ‘The Eve of Peril.’ That’s all.”

  Silence settled over the field.

  “We’ll need to bring the new girl there,” Erous said at last. “How much can Balaam retrieve?”

  “We shouldn’t take a child to such a place,” Lorna replied sharply. “It’s grueling. After this, these two should see the confessor.”

  “We need the information. The Months of Peril ends this year. There’s still too much we don’t understand.”

  “Not the children,” Lorna insisted. “Reece’s situation was an unfortunate oversight. Al Sahim…” She exhaled. “To think I shook his hand. I despise ritualists.”

  “We all do,” Erous said calmly. “Reece, what abilities did he display? Anything. Ritualists are unpredictable.”

  Reece nodded. “He severed the Marshal’s hand effortlessly. He moved incredibly fast. But he didn’t seem eager to fight. I think he was protecting the other thaumaturge. He also said something strange.”

  “What was that?”

  “He said he couldn’t die in this story.”

  Erous’s smile returned. “Interesting. Thank you.”

  He glanced at Lorna. She shook her head.

  Suddenly, the green field cracked like drying grass. Light splintered outward, and the illusion dissolved into drifting dust, revealing the infirmary once more.

  Kyla blinked. Erous was gone.

  “Don’t mind him,” Lorna said with a small smile. “He enjoys dramatics.”

  “That’s your father?” Kyla asked.

  “At least until my mother realizes he’s an idiot and marries a wealthy merchant instead,” Reece replied.

  Lorna laughed softly.

  Kyla couldn’t help staring at her. The woman was beautiful. Her hair was dyed and intricately braided, and she wore a long, fitted gown of blue with silver embroidery along the chest and sleeves.

  A sage.

  Back in Erona, they were little more than rumors. She had heard stories of them cleaving mountains with a single glance. After watching Lorna burn half a forest to ash, Kyla found the stories easier to believe.

  “Come,” Lorna said gently. “You should see your friends.”

  She opened the door.

  Kyla and Reece followed without hesitation.

  They passed through multiple infirmary wings, all of them busy with healers and patients. They descended a flight of stairs that led to the infirmary hall.

  It was a large room that housed most of the minor cases and visitors. It was a bit rowdy but everyone instinctively parted ways for Lorna. They found Shalliah and Patelon huddled up in a corner, speaking to each other in hushed tones.

  “Are you guys doing okay?” Reece broke the silence.

  Patelon smiled upon seeing him but Shalliah held him in a tight hug before he could say another word, a gesture that annoyed Kyla a little bit.

  “I am so glad you are alive,” Shalliah said, holding Reece’s face in her hand before hugging him again.

  She released him to give Patelon a chance to see him. The two only dabbed each other's shoulders with a hearty smile.

  “Well, since you all have found each other, I am going to leave. I have a lot to attend to,” Lorna announced. “Don't go to that bar today, I want my son at home before the last light,” she added before looking at Kyla. “Bring the pretty girl with you.”

  Reece nodded and then she waved them goodbye. The four stepped out of the infirmary to get some air. “How are you guys holding up?” Reece started.

  “Kinda good, honestly. I am glad to be alive, but at the same time it makes me feel guilty,” Shalliah explained.

  “I understand you, honestly.” Reece sighed. “But three wise women have hammered it into my head that there was nothing we could have done. That's just the reality of life at times. I intend to improve myself after this, I hate that feeling of powerlessness.”

  “Yeah. The Shroud came by while you were asleep. He claims to have a way to help hasten my progression. I was quite devastated. All that training started to feel like they meant nothing.” Patelon said, kicking a small rock.

  “Yeah, but what are the odds we were training to fight a proper demon.” Shalliah raised her eyes.

  “Oh, come on, the church wards off evil spirits all the time. They don't use Thaumaturges every time in fact.”

  “That wasn't an evil spirit though. It was an actual demon.” Reece corrected.

  “Is there a difference?”

  “Yes. An evil spirit, according to all those holy books— is a spirit that descends into the abyss and becomes twisted by it but demons. They are born in the abyss, and they are creatures that this world actively rejects.”

  Patelon nodded. “You read a lot of those myths, don't you?”

  “I read a lot of everything,” Reece replied.

  They were far away from the infirmary now and Kyla was walking silently behind the three, they were so engrossed in their discussion that they failed to even notice her existence, so she turned her attention to the Capital.

  It was her first time ever visiting so almost every single thing awed her. There were so many people just like in Alkhamas but it was a bit more sophisticated than even the upper part of the commercial city.

  Everyone here seemed to walk with purpose and a sense of duty. She’d already walked past two soldiers in chain mail and full uniform. There were priests who could care less about preaching, whispering to themselves as they hurried along.

  In fact they were the only ones who were relaxed. What, however, caught Kyla's attention the most was the looming ivory building in the far distance. She didn't need anyone to tell her that it was the royal castle.

  It rose like a beacon, Kyla couldn't judge its actual size because she was so far away but she knew it would make the church of her Eternal Touch feel small. At the top of the building was the symbol of a man, raising his sword to the sky.

  Most people believed that it was a representation of King Alaroc but Kyla read once that it was actually the Pale King that was depicted there. She didn't care much about historical figures, she was more of a fairytale and romance reader.

  “You seem lost,” she heard a voice call beside her and she glanced to the side.

  The man in the mirror was walking beside her with a mischievous grin on his face. His eyes were no longer mirror-like, they were plain brown. “I am not, I am just trying to enjoy the view,” Kyla also noticed that he was rather short for an average man. He was obviously from Aldhuras, he had their stature and their skin tone.

  “Oh, the view, the view is nice. Pleasant even.” Erous smiled, his hands behind his back. “I believe that it is serving as a really interesting distraction.”

  Kyla frowned, she didn't like people reading her. “Distraction from what?”

  “From whatever it is you should really be thinking about. The part where you have no idea what you are going to do now that you are in the Capital or the fact that your life is upside down or just the almost dying part, honestly it depends…” he placed a finger on his head, feigning deep thought. “Sincerely, if I were you, I'd worry more about my future here.”

  Kyla sighed. “I don't know, so worrying about it doesn't do much good. I always believe everything will fall into place.”

  Erous nodded, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. “You are exactly as she described. Very willful.”

  Before Kyla could respond, Reece turned back. “When did you get here?” he asked.

  “I have always been here,” Erous replied calmly. “You are simply very short-sighted.”

  Patelon and Shalliah exchanged a glance, then offered their farewells. They had reached an intersection, and the two continued down the opposite path. From the way they left, it almost seemed as though they didn’t want to remain in Erous’s presence.

  Kyla noticed how subtly pleased the boy looked when he saw him. The emotion was faint, but it made her feel a little more at ease around the man.

  He is a sage, for the love of dragons. I’m actually speaking to a sage.

  She wondered how she wasn’t already screaming at the top of her lungs.

  “I have a bit of a problem,” Reece began. “I don't feel great about myself. We lost three people…” he paused, glanced at Kyla then continued. “Although everyone’s been telling me not to blame myself, I can't just help it. The only reason those three were dead is because of me. All they wanted was me. Is my life worth more than theirs?”

  “Ah, you have started to ask yourself the big questions. What is the price of a life?” Erous smiled. “It's a good question, you know. To wonder which life matters and which life doesn't? Should a slave die for his master? Should soldiers die for kings? What is the worth… the very value of this unexplainable process we call life. I mean when you think of it we all die anyway, so… what is the value of life?”

  Kyla felt her brain twitch in her head. “And what is the answer?” she blurted.

  “Everyone has their own answers, big questions like that don't have simple answers girl.”

  “What is your answer?” Reece demanded.

  “I believe life is priceless. The life of a slave is no less valuable than that of a king. That is my belief, at least. Although it isn't very right. Take King Alaroc, for example. The value placed on his life outweighed that of a thousand men. So perhaps it is deeds that decide the worth of men.”

  “It feels unfair, we can't all have great deeds, the life of a common man seems to have been tossed under a rock.” Reece commented.

  “Life isn't fair, boy. That is the point of it. If it were fair, the gods wouldn't have things to laugh about. We are all puppets hanging down from the strings of fate, dancing to the tunes of chaos and madness. If you felt those people died for you. Well, it is a sign that you should value your life more, because it is now worth three more lives.”

  The three felt silent and the rest of their walk was like that. Throughout the walk, the mischievous grin never left Erous’ face.

  They arrived at a small house surrounded by three other houses. A woman was waiting in front of the house for them. “Kalifa?” Reece called out happily as the woman sprinted towards him.

  They embraced each other tightly. After a while, they finally let go.

  “One of the King’s guards came down two hours ago and handed me these parchments.” The girl Reece called Kalifa held up two sealed envelopes.

  On the first, written in black letters, was the name Reece White.

  The second, surprisingly, bore Kyla’s name. Her full name. Kyla Hayward. “What the—?”

  She snatched the parchment before Reece could even blink. Tearing it open, she scanned the message inside.

  You have been invited by the Queen’s Hand.

  A date and time were written neatly at the bottom.

  “Seems you two have the royal attention now,” Erous giggled as he wandered into the house, leaving them behind.