With their almost empty bags on their backs, the trio set off towards Minisia more than a week after they'd escaped from Huton. Not all of them were fully healed, but time was of the essence and they couldn't afford to lie around any longer. Rina was fine, physically, and she led the little group down the hill the church sat on.

Once they left the Sanctum's little village, their movements slowed considerably. Even with more than a week's rest and the strength stone in hand, Isiah still grew tired easily and had to slow down. It was irritating, but she wasn't going to get annoyed about it like she had before. Even her limbs ached after a few hours despite the slow pace. Getting irritated would only make her seem like a hypocrite.

She had no idea when they crossed into Minisia because everything looked the same. Dark green evergreens and leaf-stripped skeletons all capped with snow filled her vision, never once changing. It was pretty, but also dull after weeks of seeing it and she longed for the crystal pillars in Ziya and the river from which they were made. It would be some time before she saw them, but she could still hope.

The three of them trudged through the snow and trees in near silence, the forest around them filled with their panting breaths and groans of effort. Occasionally, Emrick would open the map and scour it as they walked, but he never said anything about where they were going. She didn't mind, as long as they got as far from the border as possible.

None of them had any idea where the next Sanctum was or which God it belonged to. It was a huge problem, one they could have easily solved if Emrick had just gone to get Nerin, but even she knew that it wouldn't have ended well for them. If Nerin was with them, Harudan and Jonin would have easily found them and killed them. It was safer without him.

The fact that they hadn't been discovered at any point during the week they'd stayed at the Sanctum of Nyat surprised her. At every moment, she was ready for a small army to burst through the trees and attack them. If that had happened, they wouldn't have lasted long. Not even Rina was ready to take on more than one person. But it hadn't, they'd been safe the entire time, which meant that either Harudan wasn't looking for them or he didn't have the right means to find them.

It was a good sign. It meant that they could travel unhindered for a while, but they were still travelling behind the enemy army. No matter how safe they were or the lack of anyone finding them, it would still be dangerous. Harudan wouldn't let them run free, he still wanted her dead, but if they just got ahead of the army, everything would be fine. They could search for the stones without issue.

Maybe with fewer problems, if Jonin or someone didn't catch up to them in the next few hours, they would have a little time to figure out what was going on. Without Nerin, they could move faster, but they were also injured. Rina had no idea if they were going to beat the Ishini army to Ziya, but they had to at least try. She wasn't going to let her nation fall so easily.

Despite everything, it felt good to finally be back in Minisia, even if she wasn't sure if they'd crossed the border yet. It had been so long since she'd been home and while staying in Brenmar had been important, she had missed her home and her family dearly. Back in her cell in Huton, she had been almost convinced that she would never see her land or her family again. She had come so close to death, but thanks to Emrick, she got the chance to live again.

She tried to imagine seeing her family again, but there were too many ways the reunion could go and all of them wanted to come to the forefront of her mind. There was one that hid below the rest and she couldn't ignore it, no matter how hard she tried. The vision Askarune had shown her never left her. It plagued her nightmares and her waking moments, hiding in the depths of her mind. They had to reach Ziya before her fear became the truth.

With a sigh, she pushed the thoughts from her mind and climbed over a fallen tree. They were heading downhill, away from Huton and the Sanctum, the sky filled with dark clouds. It would snow again soon. Behind her, Isiah and Emrick supported each other as they hobbled down the hill, the stones glowing through the fabric of their coats. She frowned at them but didn't say a word as she helped them over the tree.

The two of them were acting strange, had been ever since Emrick rescued them. Isiah had only talked to her and every time Emrick came into the room, he went silent and his face turned dark with embarrassment. She hadn't asked either of them about it, it wasn't any of her business, but it would be good to see them be happy during everything. Isiah definitely needed it, considering everything he had been through. Hopefully, he would see that on his own without her having to intervene. Romance was not her strong suit and she didn't want to be sitting there trying to give advice when there were more important things to worry about.

One of those things walked behind her, a stone he shouldn't be able to use in his pocket. It was supposed to be Isiah's, he was the Beast that was Promised, but instead, it was Emrick who could use the fear stone. She didn't know how. It had been hard enough for her to wrap her mind around the idea of the Beast and the Old Gods being real, there was no way she could try and figure out how Emrick and the fear stone were tied into it all.

As long as one of them could use it, she didn't care. It was confusing and a mess, but at least the fear stone wasn't completely useless. Maybe one day Isiah could use it but until then, it was Emrick's to control. Not that he had done much of it. When she'd come back from her bath two days beforehand, the fear stone had been gone and Isiah had been asleep. How much Emrick had practised with it, she didn't know, but it was better than nothing.

Isiah stumbled over a tree root hidden in the snow and grunted. "Are you alright?" Rina asked as Emrick helped him straighten up.

"I'm fine," Isiah muttered in response, glaring down at the ground. "I just want to get to wherever we're going so I can rest."

"It's going to be a while," Emrick said in a tired voice. "I don't want to stay the night in any of the border towns, just in case. We're going to stop at one to get supplies and that's it. We'll sleep where we usually do, wherever we can find it."

It wasn't the best answer, but it was the one she had expected. There couldn't be a repeat of what had happened in Huton, although she doubted their wanted posters would be in Minisia. Instead, they would have to be as quiet as possible. For all they knew, all the nearby border towns had been captured and their people killed. She wouldn't put it past Harudan, but if that was the case, it meant that they would have to steal supplies from the Ishini army.

Emrick was still talking and Rina struggled to pay attention. "But if you need to stop and rest for a bit, just let us know, we won't mind," he was saying and Rina rolled her eyes. She would mind, they needed to keep moving, but she couldn't blame him for being hurt. He'd been tortured for information that he wouldn't give. He was strong, but it still hadn't ended well for him.

"I'll be fine," Isiah replied and rubbed at his eyes. "It's the Sanctum I'm worried about."

Rina couldn't help but agree. None of them knew where it was or whose it was. She had some guesses but knowing their luck, it wouldn't turn out so well. As a result, she hadn't told either man, she should have but she still hadn't. Instead, she asked something else. "Which Gods could it be?"

"Either Belganine or Teremtys," Isiah replied with a shrug.

"The Gods of Health and Creation, right?" Emrick asked.

The other man gave him a weird look and Rina held back a laugh. She'd been surprised at Emrick's knowledge of her culture, but after so long, it was of no surprise to her that he knew of Isiah's too, he was a scientist after all. Isiah nodded and there was a strange prideful look in Emrick's eyes.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Rina asked. "Health and creation? They don't sound dangerous." Isiah had been so concerned about hurting people with the powers the stones gave him, but health meant that there was a possibility that he could heal. And creation, she had no idea what it meant, but it had to be something good.

Isiah nodded again. "I hope it's good. I'm sick of this stuff being dangerous. Damn the Gods, I'm not hurting anyone," he growled and Rina froze in her tracks.

When she'd met him, he'd been a devout follower of the Old Gods, devastated over killing someone because he thought it would mean he was damned, but things had changed. The Old Gods didn't care if he hurt or not, but still, he was determined to be as peaceful as he could. It was admirable, to throw away his Gods for what he truly believed in, even if everything about him pushed in the opposite direction, but a part of her was still irritated.

To her, the only way to save everyone was to kill Harudan and anyone else who stood in their way. But everyone had a different way of seeing the world. She had no doubt that Emrick wanted to do things another way, and with the fear stone, maybe he could, but he still wasn't the Beast. Isiah was and anything he wanted to do in regards to saving the realm, both of them had to follow.

She could try and convince him to do what was needed, now that Nerin wasn't there to pull the brother card. She hated thinking it, but it was still true. One of the main reasons that Isiah didn't want to kill Harudan, aside from his mess of a religion, was because Nerin asked him not to, and no one could deny an upset child.

Isiah's loud sigh pulled her from her thoughts. "We still need to find it and I don't know where to start," he said and ran a hand through his hair. There were dark bags under his eyes and his cheeks were starting to look gaunt. Even though he had rested for the majority of the time they'd been at the Sanctum of Nyat, he still looked exhausted.

"There has to be someone we can ask for help," Rina replied, her mind drifting to the one idea she had. "Why don't we go to the Sanctum of Askarune?"

"That's- That's back in Brenmar, Rina," Emrick said, a frown on his pale face.

She shook her head. "Not that one, the fake one in Minisia. I know it's probably like the other Sanctum of Ishin and holds no real importance to the Beast, but there are still people there. Maybe we can ask them," she suggested with a shrug. The idea had been running about her mind for the last few days but after what had happened at both Sanctums of Ishin, she didn't want to put more innocent people in danger, especially not for information they might not even find.

"I-" Isiah said and stared down at the snow with his lip between his teeth. "Would they let me in?"

"Why wouldn't they? You're the Beast," she said with a shrug.

Emrick hummed and crossed his arms over his chest. "And if they don't have answers?" he asked.

"Then we figure something else out. But we don't have any other options, do we? It's worth a shot," she said. There was nothing else they could do, not without Nerin. "If we're lucky, they might even be able to tell us why you can use the fear stone."

"You think that if they knew that much, they would keep it secret?" Emrick asked, his eyebrows raised.

Isiah cleared his throat and both of them looked at him expectantly. "If they had tried to tell anyone, no one would have believed them. Our religion is dying, no one wants to listen to the rambles of a person whose religion is no longer the accepted one," he said and scuffed his boot through the snow. "I think we should try it. What else can we do?"

Rina smiled, glad that her idea had been taken on board so easily. When there were no other options, they had to go with the first thing suggested. Nervousness fluttered in her stomach and a voice in the back of her mind still whispered that they could be putting more people in danger, but they needed the stones, desperately.

With a frown, Emrick pulled the fear stone from his pocket. The blue glow bounced off the snow and into her eyes, making her wince. "Maybe," he whispered and clenched his fingers around it. "What have we got to lose?"