The trio didn't stop until the valley and the Sanctum was far behind them. The sun had set a long time ago, casting shadows all around them. The forest that sat on the foothills of the mountains was thick and dense even in the winter, giving them plenty of hiding places in case Jonin and his group were still on the hunt for them.

Isiah doubted it after what he did to them. He hadn't been able to push the images of it from his head since it happened. He hadn't meant to do it, that was the honest truth, but it had been out of his control. All he'd been able to think about was the need to get out of the cave and find somewhere safe from Jonin and anyone else who might be after them.

He hadn't been in control of his own body. It was as though the stone had taken control of him and forced him down the tunnel. He hadn't wanted to go, especially not when the stone door had opened, but he hadn't been able to stop himself. The stone was a sinking weight in his pocket as he walked, a reminder of what he had done.

He should have left it behind at the Sanctum where it belonged. No one needed such power. It was far too dangerous to be in anyone's hands, even his. But it shouldn't have even been at the Sanctum. The followers of the Old Gods were peaceful, they didn't need something as dangerous as the stone he held.

The urge to pray to his Gods went ignored. It felt wrong to do so after what he'd done. He'd promised them and himself that he would never kill again and yet when it came down to it, he'd done it so easily. Just the thought of it made him feel sick to his stomach. How could he have done such a thing?

When the moon was high in the sky, Rina finally stopped. Isiah had trailed behind her and Nerin for most of the day, lost in his thoughts. The pair's ceaseless chatter had been one of the constant things in his day, that and the guilt. He did not doubt that they were talking about him, but he found that he didn't care all that much about what they thought of him anymore. The only opinions that mattered were those of the Gods and himself.

The worry in Rina's eyes still made him look away. "We can sleep here for a couple of hours," she said and dropped her bag on the grass. They stood in a small clearing, surrounded by the faint noises of the night birds. The moon was hidden behind the clouds, denying the land of even a little light. It didn't matter. Isiah's eyes had adjusted long ago.

While Nerin and Rina set up on one side of the clearing. Isiah moved to the opposite. It was too dangerous for him to be near them, especially with the stone so close by. He could throw it away, it would be so easy, but someone else could find it, someone a lot more violent than him.

"Isiah, you don't need to stay away from us, you know," Nerin called to him, his voice loud in the night. "We know you won't hurt us."

"Is that true?" he asked. He wasn't sure. He hadn't meant to hurt Jonin's people either, but he had anyway. If he couldn't even stop himself from doing that, how could he stop himself from hurting Nerin and Rina?

It was obvious that they were thinking the same thing. Neither of them said a word, but Rina gave him a small smile. They no longer trusted him not to hurt them and he couldn't blame him. He was meant to be peaceful, one of the most trusted people in Vishera, but he was far more violent than he had any right to be.

Watching them burn had disgusted him, but he couldn't stop, couldn't even close his eyes. The only thing that had obscured his vision at all had been his tears, which hadn't stopped flowing since the first person burned.

All he'd wanted was to be safe, not to see more people die. It was fine if Rina killed them. He hated seeing it, but at least it wasn't him. She didn't follow his Gods. Hers probably didn't care who she killed, as long as they deserved it. The thing was, Isiah wasn't sure if the people he'd killed had deserved it.

They would have been under orders from King Harudan. They would have just been doing what they were told. Going against the King was treason and meant death. They wanted to hurt him, wanted to see him dead. But still, they hadn't deserved it. They were just doing as they were told so they could live a happy life. After what Isiah did, they had no life at all.

The stone itself was something he had never seen before. It was similar to both the crystal at the other Sanctum of Ishin and fyrite, but it seemed like neither. It kept him warm, almost uncomfortably so, without him using any of his power. If he hadn't seen what it had done, he would have thought that it was just a smaller version of the crystal, something an Ishini put their magic into a long time ago.

But nothing he had ever seen could spew flames like the stone had. No Ishini had powers that strong. The stone was something else, something far more powerful than Isiah could deal with. He shouldn't have been able to do what he did. He should have been in control of his actions. So many things should have been, but that wasn't the case.

He didn't realise how much time had passed until he looked back at Rina and Nerin. They were fast asleep next to each other, shivering in the cold he could no longer feel. How long had passed, he did not know, but he did know that if he wanted to be able to walk in the morning, he would have to get some sleep.

Sleeping felt wrong after what he had done as if he were just brushing it off, but he needed it if he wanted to keep going. He may be angry and guilty and disappointed with himself, but he made a promise to the Princess. He would get her to the border. If he did, and it helped fix the realm, maybe the Gods would forgive him for his mistakes.

He knew even as he drifted off that it was a pointless wish. After the first person he'd killed, which had been an accident, there was a chance for forgiveness. If it had only been the one, he could have been okay, but he had no idea how many people were left as husks on the stone. Far too many. There would be no forgiveness for him, not anymore. He would never be accepted back into the Sanctum by the Mother.

His sleep was restless and filled with nightmares, but it was sleep. The images of screaming people flailing about as flames licked up their bodies never left him and haunted him even woke he woke. He couldn't unsee it, no matter how much he wanted to. It would never leave him, not until he died, that much was certain.

When he fully awoke, the clouds were tinged with orange and light snow was falling. Rina was already awake, staring up at the clouds and snow with a sad smile. Next to her, Nerin slept soundly, as if the hard ground he lay on was the comfortable bed he'd had in Ishmar.

Isiah shifted and the noise made Rina's gaze snap towards him. "Oh, good, you're awake," she said and pushed herself to her feet. Her steps were slow as if she were trying to approach an angry horse.

"You shouldn't," Isiah told her and bit down on his bottom lip again. It hurt, but the pain didn't matter.

Rina let out a huff. "You won't hurt me, Isiah. It's alright." It wasn't alright. He didn't know what he would do. But he hadn't done anything during the night and the stone was still in his pocket. She sat down in front of him and frowned. "It's warm over here."

"It's the stone," he said.

"Can I see it?" she asked.

Isiah froze for a moment, his fingers mere inches from his pocket. He didn't know what would happen if he did take it out. The one time he had touched it, people had died. He reached into his pocket anyway and pulled out the smooth stone. It didn't look like something that could kill so many people. The glow had been smothered by his clothing during the night, but now that it was out in the open air, it shone like a star.

Rina made a noise his couldn't decipher and reached out to touch it. He snapped his hand back instantly. It had burned Nerin's fingers the day before. But he didn't move fast enough and the tips of Rina's had grazed its smooth surface.

"Huh," she said. "That's hot."

"It's not burning you?"

She shook her head. "No. It's really hot, but it doesn't hurt. Like holding your hands in front of a fire," she explained and frowned at him. "What happened yesterday, Isiah?"

Even though his mind screamed at him to keep it all inside, he told her. He explained the journey through the tunnel and the cavern he found the stone in. He told her that when he touched it, it was like someone had taken control of him and all he could do was watch. He'd wanted to stop when Rina and Nerin called out to him, but he'd just kept walking.

When he finished, only getting as far as the door opening and the first person dying, Rina moved her hand from the stone to his arm. "It wasn't your fault," she said, her hand cool on his skin. "Listen to me, it wasn't. I don't know what this stone is, but it was controlling you, right? You never would have done it if you were in control."

He didn't want to listen to her. Even if he hadn't been in control of his actions, he had still been the one to kill all those people. But part of him knew that she was right. "I don't..." he muttered, unsure of how to finish the sentence. He stared down at the stone, heavy in his hand. "I don't even know what this is. I never should have touched it."

"It's too late for that now," Rina said, shifting closer to him. The sun was rising behind her, casting an orange halo around her white hair. "We'll just have to deal with it."

Isiah didn't get a chance to think around her words. "Didn't the Father show you the mural?" a voice asked. Nerin stood behind Rina and rubbed at his eye with the heel of his hand.

"He did, but what does that have to do with this?" Isiah asked, gesturing with the stone.

Nerin gave him a droll look. "The door, Isiah. The mural showed a door and then was a door itself," he said, gesturing wildly. "And then the stone, they were in the mural too. You know what that mural was talking about right?"

He nodded, a sick feeling in his stomach. "The Beast that was Promised," he whispered, his head aching as he spoke. It couldn't be, but it was the only thing that made sense. "You can read High Visheran? But you knew nothing about my religion back in Ishmar."

"I- I lied. I want to know more about it than what I read in books," he said with a shrug. "I wanted to know what it was like from someone actually in the religion."

"I don't think that's what we need to be focusing on right now," Rina said, her arms crossed over her chest. She glanced between the two of them. "Do you really think this has something to do with the Beast. Isn't that just a tale from a long-dead religion? Nerin, I thought you followed the New Gods."

Nerin let out a worried hum. "It's the only thing that makes sense to me, no matter what I believe," he said and pointed at the stone. "Surely even you can see that this is something beyond our beliefs."

Rina was silent, staring at the stone was an expression Isiah could decipher. He looked back towards Nerin, something like hope stirring in his stomach. "We need more information. How much do you know?"

The boy shook his head. "Not much. Most of the books at the Sanctum were so old that I couldn't read them," he replied and stared off into the distance. A strange expression came over his face. "I know where we can go."

"Where?" Isiah asked, pushing himself forward.

"Rina won't like it, but my uncle owns a laboratory south of Ishmar," Nerin explained, pointing south. "He has plenty of books for us to look through. I know there are some on the Beast because they're written in High Visheran. It's why I learned it. I just haven't had a chance to go back and read them yet."

The Princess huffed and stood. Around her, the snow still fell. It was slow and melted whenever it landed. It would fall thicker in a day or two. "You're right, I don't like it," she snapped, her eyebrows raised. She met Isiah's eyes. "But I suppose we need to. We can't just walk around with that thing, not knowing what it is. A detour to the border, that's all this is, understand?"

Isiah nodded and finally placed the stone back in his pocket. He hadn't hurt them like he thought he would. Maybe, with the information he could get from Nerin's uncle, he could figure out what to do with the stone. He hoped Nerin was wrong and it wasn't something to do with the Beast that was Promised. It meant chaos for Vishera.

"Your uncle won't turn us into King Harudan will he?" he asked. They couldn't go all that way just to get caught at the last minute.

But Nerin shook his head, a sad smile on his face. "My father and uncle never got along, same with Harudan. My uncle loves me, he'd listen to anything I say," he replied and blinked at a snowflake that landed on his eyelashes. "It's his apprentice we'll have to worry about, I think, but he listens to everything my uncle says."

"Do you know how to get there?" Rina asked.

"No, but I can find it on a map," Nerin answered.

She sighed. "I suppose that's better than nothing. We'll pray and then we'll be off. Is this good with you, Isiah?" Her tone wasn't angry like the words would dictate, but concerned.

He nodded. It would have to be. He needed information. He needed to know that the Beast wasn't coming, that it wasn't him. There had to be a safe way to get rid of the stone, but for now, he would keep it on him so that no one else ended up with such a dangerous power. "We stop at the next village then."