They all landed over a stream.

Sianna heard the bubbling whoosh as water swallowed her. She surfaced, an array of splashes telling her the others were close by. The depth was shallow, up to Sianna's chest, which was a relief because she wasn't confident in her swimming abilities. She sloshed through the water and mud pretending she didn't feel Reth's concerned gaze as he watched her over his shoulder. It was hard to do though because his blond locks were plastered to his skull in an endearing combover while the hairs in the back of his head stood straight up.

Aldermeck and Lycin were already on shore. She was wringing the water out of her clothes while he had his head low, whispering something to Calera. Iari and Deneck, however, had swum deeper into the stream until they were bobbing heads laughing and splashing water at each other.

"Look at those idiots," Aldermeck said when Sianna sat next to her.

"We're home." She laughed, living out her enthusiasm as she watched Deneck chase Iari only to get hit in the face with a wave that was suspiciously big.

Aldermeck inhaled, deep as if tasting the air. "We are. About damn time."

"Now if only we knew where," Lycin said.

Sianna didn't look at him. "Always a damper, aren't you? Like an annoying fly."

"I'll make sure to buzz lovingly and sweetly in your ear only." His fingertip outlined her lobe.

She burst into a fit of giggles. Lycin stared with a mixture of surprise and awe. It didn't matter. They were in Dracarr. She knew because she was still wet from the water. Here, it didn't magickly dry when exposed to the air. Here, there was a blue sky with a single sun. Here, the sky was black with pinprick stars and waning moons. So who cared if Lycin was being an insufferable ass? That was just part of the norm Sianna was eager to welcome.

"But where exactly are we?" Aldermeck asked like she had read her thoughts and was waiting for the perfect moment to damper her joy.

Who cares? she wanted to say, but it was true. They needed to establish their bearings and find the way back to Baerston Keep to give Vulharis the stone. Just because they were home didn't mean they were done. And after all they went through, that stupid wizard better have good news for them.

Kota appeared, jewels twinkling on her skin with the sunset's diminishing light. The tiny drops of water sliding down her body added to the effect. Aside from a torn cloth clinging around her waist, she had nothing on. Sianna had dared to hope she hadn't returned with them after all, but of course that had been too good to be true.

Aldermeck shared Sianna's sentiment. "You would appear to us like that."

"It was easier for me like this," Kota said.

"It's easier for me too." Lycin grinned.

Sianna sighed. "Easier to do what?"

"Ask the river where we were," Kota said. "We're about a two day's ride from the castle if we can secure some horses in the next town. We can reach it after nightfall if we take off now."

"For as imposing as Tanis tried to appear, he couldn't drop us off closer?" Lycin said.

She scowled at him.

"It is done. And we have dwindled here enough," Aldermeck said as she stood.

"We have." The Nayichi took on her usual human disguise, her red hair appearing like a halo of fire.

As much as Sianna wished they already were in Baerston Keep, a bed felt more welcoming right now, and the exhaustion on everyone's face said they felt the same way. "We should rest at this town when we reach it. If it's a two day's ride back, we can make it in one if we ride through the whole night tomorrow."

"But that will exhaust the horses, Sianna," Reth said.

She didn't miss the twitch of annoyance on Lycin's face whenever he said her name. "They'll be fine, Reth. I promise we'll take them to the Guard stables afterward. You know Rafel there will make sure they're taken good care of."

He paused before nodding.

"Now that we have all that planned out, go get my childish idiot out of the water for me, Reth. Do not forget the other one too," Aldermeck said.

"Yes, ser."

She chuckled. "You can call me Meryl."

He stuck his chin out, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Yes, Meryl."

Reth removed his shirt, and Sianna took this opportunity to watch Calera's reaction and not because she was turning to push away the memory of his body on hers. But when she saw a dust of pink on the female Rhokin's cheeks, that was truly forgotten. Sianna grinned to herself but that was replaced with awe when Calera spoke.

"I can take care of it for you." She held a thin but elegant hand out to Reth.

He stared at her before offering his shirt. "Thank you."

She nodded and spread it out on a rock while Lycin stared at her with a mixture of disgust and confusion.

"How long has that been going on?" Aldermeck asked with a curious head tilt.

Sianna's giddiness surprised her. Finally someone else noticed. "Longer than you can guess."

Lycin grunted.

After Reth hauled Deneck and Iari to shore, but not before the two splashed him only for him to return the gesture, they set off to the town. With Kota's guidance, they found the main road to Baerston Keep, and Aldermeck realized where they were headed.

"Bridgelight," she said, "named so because the entire town was actually a bridge that once carried people straight to the castle. Then lights fell from the sky and destroyed it. The town's oldest buildings are carved from the remains of the bridge."

"Wow. Lights from the sky." Iari was the only one that spoke.

Their silent trek was one of swift purpose. When they reached Bridgelight, they were guided by lanterns hanging on nails or sitting on top of wooden poles through a town with buildings made of stone. With the help of the few residents still roaming the streets, they were able to find their way to an inn. However, when they tried to obtain room and board, they were turned away with a laugh and escorted out of the building by the owner's towering son.

"We are members of the Guard! Surely you can expect our debt to be paid," Aldermeck said to the heavy iron door closing on them.

It stopped and the egghead of the owner's son peeked through. "Sorry. No money, no room."

"Ass!"

Deneck sighed. "What a promise to make when we're no longer of the Guard."

"Sianna would have figured out a way to pay," Aldermeck said.

She crossed her arms. "I doubt I could have."

"Have I taught you nothing?"

"Don't worry," Lycin said. "I'm sure we'll have better luck stealing the horses."

The inn's stable was behind the building, manned by a single stable boy. Deneck nudged him awake. A short squeak emerged from him as he jolted to his feet and stammered out inaudible words. Wide brown eyes shifted between the three Rhokin in front of him. Each time he did, he beamed and bounced with excitement until Sianna grabbed his arm. "We need horses."

He stopped. "Horses?"

"Yes. Those animals behind you." Deneck pointed and smiled.

"By order of the Guard," Sianna added

He gasped, stars in his eyes. "Y-yes, sers!" He scrambled into the building and returned with an armful of bedrolls. "So yer journey can be comfortable." He stared at them like a puppy waiting to be petted, and it was a wonder he did pee himself when Deneck gave him his thanks with a shoulder pat.

While Reth took a bit longer than the others to take his pick of a horse, Iari didn't choose at all, asking if he could ride with someone. Sianna felt like his words only accented how drained he appeared and how hollow his face looked. His scars were deep and prominent on his skin. It had descended upon him recently because when they had entered the inn, he was fine.

"Are you okay, Iari?" Sianna asked.

He nodded. "I think all tha' magick I use' is catchin' up to me."

"I'm not surprised," Kota said. "You tapped into imaginable powers, even if you had done it while your body was technically dead."

"I'll be fine in a few days, bu' I don' think I can use heavy magick like tha' right now."

"Don't worry. We're almost there and will be resting soon."

He was saddled with Calera, the two the lightest pair to travel together on a horse. Within twenty minutes, they were riding out of the town and an hour later, Calera's clear and beautiful voice cut through the dark quietness. "Iari is falling from his seat."

Sianna turned to see, with the bright moon's light, Calera keeping a passed out Iari on the horse by the collar of his shirt.

"Iari!"

Without speaking, it was agreed to stop for the night and a campfire was made, but Iari was the only one sleeping. As Sianna watched the flames paint his blond locks with shadows, she wondered how heavy the weight of magick was. Her knowledge of users was limited, but even she knew Iari was exceptional.

She also knew she would never let anything happen to him which was why she was going to plea with the wizard to spare Iari from the Guard's wrath. Maybe take him as an apprentice. He damn well owed him at least that much. Sianna eyed Iari's bag, enchanted to be indestructible and holding The Eye of Artemis, as it pillowed his head. To think he was sleeping on the kingdom's salvation.

Sianna combed Iari's hair out of his closed eyes. "You are such a pain in the ass."

"But he grows on you, does he not?" Aldermeck sat next to her.

It had become familiar. The faces surrounding her. Their relaxed postures. The warm atmosphere. Reth and Deneck were talking, as always, and Sianna caught the word "dream" tossed between the two. Kota was under a tree, staring at the flames with eyes that reflected more than just the fire. And Lycin was with Calera, mumbling words to her with a scowl. As strange as it was, Sianna always felt like he was the odd one out, more so than Calera, the skeleton looking Rhokin.

"I think maybe more than just Iari grew on me," she said.

Aldermeck smiled, the shadows seeping into her crooked teeth and angling them out even more. "It is okay."

"What is?"

"This. Everything. We obtained what we needed and it will all be okay. Vulharis will do what must be done, and you will be okay."

"Me? What about you? You said you're here because you wanted to know if your son was still alive." The words escaped her before her brain caught up with them.

There was no change on her face. "Yes. I do want to know that. Vulharis will be able to use the eye's power as a channeler and tell me. Or at least that is what Kota promised."

"You've never talked about him." Again the words rushed out of her dumb mouth. She grimaced. "I'm sorry. It's none of my business."

"True."

Sianna gave a sheepish smile and fiddled with her braid, pulling out a tiny twig, hoping to find more. A leaf or even a bug. Anything to distract her from replaying her own dumbass comments through her mind.

Aldermeck chuckled. "Here. Let me fix that for you."

She scooted behind Sianna and undid her braid. Her fingertips, tender and nimble, brushed through her tough locks and split ends. It was like a mother's touch offering comfort. A warmth surged through Sianna's chest.

"Do you mind if I tell you a little story?" There was sincerity but loneliness in Aldermeck's question.

"Of course," Sianna said.

"Warin was my son's name, and aside from having the expected hobbies of a nobleman-fighting, hunting, riding, war games-he also enjoyed embroidery. My husband did not mind his interest, but my father despised it. He refused to visit, but it did not bother Warin. He'd sew our house crests on banners and his own clothing. He even made me a handkerchief with our names framing the crest. I had to burn it before I enlisted in the Guard. I could not have anyone trace where I came from." She snagged a stubborn knot and yanked Sianna's head to the side. "Sorry. Perhaps I should not have-"

"No." Sianna turned to face her, to catch her gaze. She knew this was something that had weighed on Aldermeck since before she met her. She placed her hand on Aldermeck's wrist, urging her on.

She smiled, one that aged and broke something in her eyes. "Warin came to me one day asking what girls liked, and I knew love finally found him. Or maybe he it. She was one of our serving girls, a pretty girl with the most lovely lips. He decided to emborder flowers on her apron. Warin worked on it for weeks, but before he even finished, she fell down a staircase that took her life.

"Wren was devastated. He kept the apron, its last flower unfinished save for a petal. Eventually, he found another pretty girl, but I always thought about that apron. Even now. I can not explain why, but I think it is because it was the only thing I ever saw him leave unfinished. He was always one to go through with everything. If he is alive, if I see him again, I want to tell him to finish that apron. We will find it together so he may do it."

Sianna felt the ghost of Aldermeck's breath on her neck and ears. It wasn't till her hair was braided in a neater fashion than she'd ever achieved in her years of styling it, that Sianna spoke. "I'm sorry." Her words felt meaningless and absurd but Aldermeck's hands on her shoulders told her otherwise.

"Thank you, Sianna," she said.

She nodded, a slight flush across her cheeks.

"Well, I say since I braided your hair so beautifully, you should retrieve my bedroll for me."

"Your bedroll for this thing? I say you're getting the better deal." She laughed when Aldermeck flicked the back of her head.

"Fine. How about I get your bedroll and you get mine? Fair?"

Another laugh as Sianna stood and turned around. "Sounds..." She froze. The blood that squirted on her face burned. Red streaks of fire. The grating, gurgling sound was like someone shoving pebbles in her ears. Heat needled her eyes, blurring, and she was half thankful for the obscuration.

"Muh..." Sianna croaked.

An arrow's metal tip gleamed at her despite the shadows, despite the blood, despite the fact it had shredded through Aldermeck's throat. She clawed at her neck. Globs of red fell down her lips and flung on Sianna's face with each of her failed attempts to talk. Deneck's yell was a distant haze, a promised chill to come, but Sianna knew what he had screamed just as Aldermeck collapsed into her arms.

She was aware multiple things happened at once-Deneck dashed into the trees with Calera at his heels, Lycin had woken up Iari, and Kota had disappeared. Sianna laid Aldermeck on the ground, her body hot and slick with blood.

"Sianna! Are you hurt? Sianna?" Reth's voice was like approaching thunder, his grip on her arm something that would've hurt if she could feel anything.

"Help her, damn it!" Lycin shoved Iari before Aldermeck.

His face was stoic as he touched her neck, his sleeves quickly drenching with blood. As he did, his face paled. A weak, trembling touch brushed Sianna's fingers. She saw Aldermeck plead at her with tears in her eyes before they hazily closed. Sianna gripped her hand, swallowing to find her voice. "Meryl! It's okay! lari is here. Meryl, please!"

Iari sharply inhaled. "I 'ave to get the arrow out to 'eal her."

Lycin grabbed Iari's wrist. "That'll kill her. She's already lost consciousness and too much blood. "

"I know." Tears welled in his eyes. "But even then, I don' think I can. My magick..."

They all knew. As soldiers familiar with the sights of fatal wounds, without the aid of Iari's healing magick, they knew.

Someone pushed Sianna aside and she slammed into Reth's chest. Deneck cut the tail of the arrow and pulled it out of Aldermeck's neck. Red swirled in the air and pooled around her head as quickly as someone emptying a bucket of water.

"Do it." He demanded from Iari through his teeth.

He knew better than to argue with Deneck. Iari palmed Aldermeck's wound shut, but the user's trembling lips told Sianna it was too late. She gripped Reth's arms, staring at the ground and how it drank Aldermeck's blood.

"He was wearing a magick charm that hid him from me," Kota said.

A young man was on the ground by her feet. He was dressed in black clothes, the indication of a stealth assassin. Kota's branching hair bound him motionless and outlined his scrawny figure. Calera stood next to him, her sword under his throat and a broken wooden crossbow in her other hand.

"Who sent you?" Deneck's head was lowered, but his question rang loud.

Fear ran across the man's face. "I don't know his name."

Lycin raised an eyebrow. "His name? So a man? I didn't expect you to give us a clue."

"I didn't expect to be caught. An' I don't want to die either."

Sianna crouched in front of the small man, resisting the urge to stab him in his eye. "Why were you asked to kill Meryl Aldermeck?"

He swallowed and looked away. "Wasn't her."

"What?"

"Wasn't her. Not mah target."

"Then why did you kill her?" She didn't know she had yelled her question until her ears buzzing with the shrillness of her voice.

The man chewed on his words.

"Answer her!" Lycin punched the man, Calera simultaneously lowering her blade as if reading his thoughts.

He groaned and coughed, red flecks dotting his lips. "She got in tha way. My target was tha woman with tha braid. Had to wait for her to stand to get tha shot. Not my fault tha other woman stood up right after her."

"Sianna was your target?" Reth's glare rivaled the cold, silver moonlight.

He coughed again. "I wasn't given no names."

"Then you are useless." Reth impaled his dagger into the man's neck and watched him choke.

A soft sound whispered through the air. It took Sianna a few seconds to realize it was coming from Deneck. He was cradling Aldermeck's head on his lap, something from his face falling onto her, the source of the noise. It wasn't tears though. It looked like sand, like someone was sprinkling dirt on Aldermeck's cheeks.

Sianna gasped.

Deneck's face was cracking, breaking like the porcelain of a dropped doll. The hands that stroked Aldermeck's brown locks looked like dried clay. His lips that muttered silent words sputtered dirt.

"Deneck," Sianna whispered.

A Rhokin's power came from his connection with his ser. A ser's death meant the death of the Rhokin too, and depending on how strong their relationship had been, the Rhokin could die in one day or one month. And Deneck's connection with Aldermeck's was the strongest Sianna had ever seen.

Her mouth went dry as she looked at Reth. He was stoic, but she saw the anger that rumbled underneath. A shiver shot down her back at how frigid his glare was, like the gleam of the sharpened knife he stabbed into the assassin's neck.

◌-◌-◌

It was with the morning rays that they finished burying Aldermeck. It was unspoken but understood. They had paused their journey, despite how close they were to ending it, and that was something that made it all the more painful.

Sianna's gaze was held by nothing and everything. Her eyes kept shifting between Kota and Calera as they stood a few feet away from the burial. The Nayichi kept staring at something in her palm, and Calera appeared more indifferent than usual. But it was better than seeing the rest. Better than seeing Deneck's fractured hand hold so tightly onto Reth's arm two of his fingers had fallen off in a powdery hiss. Better than seeing the thinly veiled cold anger in Reth's eyes, how his jaw tightened when another crack snapped and split Deneck's skin.

Iari stirred to her left. He sank deeper into his curled body, sniffling while he palmed away his tears. "I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault, Iari. Those type of wounds...it just happens too quickly. Even if you could heal properly, it still wouldn't be your fault," Sianna said.

"But I should've been able to save 'er. I 'ave all this power. I should've."

"Iari, I'm proud of you," Lycin said, standing next to him.

He blinked up at Lycin. So did Sianna.

"Wha'?" Iari asked.

He sat next to him. "Think about what you have done. You have fixed my leg and saved us from things I didn't even know existed. Not to mention the fact that you killed a giant dragon with fucking fire and water."

"Bu' tha' is why I couldn' save Meryl. I use' up so much magick an' my body is barely catchin' up. I was jus' bein' stupid." His face wrinkled with sobs.

Lycin's gaze was warm as he patted Iari's head. "It's okay. I'm sure you'll realize it soon."

"They're coming to us." Kota's voice broke through the heavy atmosphere.

"They?" Sianna asked, but her question was answered with another.

"Who's he?" a foreign voice asked.

It took Sianna a few seconds to recognize the Rhokin that stood over the assassin's discarded corpse. The blonde hair and folded scythe strapped to her back brought the name to her lips. "Aleyda."

One of the Imperator's Rhokin.

She shot them a grin until she saw Deneck. "Oh."

The haunting Venita and scowling Phera flanked her, both wordless. Following them was half a dozen of Armadura clad Guard members and Vulharis himself. They brought with them an ominous weight, but there was a small part of Sianna that was grateful to see them. With them here, it was easier to give them the eye and take Reth to a tavern to drown their grief. As she eyed Vulharis walking up to them, it didn't surprise her that he had known they were here. He probably had a magickal net around and beyond the capital that informed him of its residents and events. That was the thought that curled her stomach.

"Vulharis." Lycin rose to his feet.

He ignored him. "Deneck. So your ser died, I see. I'm sorry. What happened here?"

"A catspaw killed her but claimed Sianna was his actual target. Aldermeck got in the way of his arrow intended for her." Lycin's voice held an intensity Sianna had never heard from him.

"Well he got what was eventually going to come to him." Aleyda pulled out Reth's dagger from the corpse's throat. "I think I want one of these now. They look fun."

Vulharis sighed, the sound a plea for something. "I know this is a difficult time for you all, but I must know if you were able to retrieve the Eye of Artemis."

Iari stood and glared at Vulharis with teary eyes and pursed lips. "I 'ave it here. But as soon as I give it to you I wan' you to use it to look for Meryl's son. Tha' was somethin' she wanted to know."

"Of course. It will be the first thing I'll do." He fidgeted with his rings before extending a palm out to Iari.

He rummaged in his bag and took out the inconspicuous stone. Removing the magickal charm around his neck, he gave it to Vulharis along with the eye. The wizard squeezed the two objects together, a faint lilac color filtering through his fingers. When he opened his hand, an eye the size of an orange floated above his fingertips. It was polished, like glass, bursting with a spider-web of black veins. A golden iris rolled and darted, gripping Sianna with both fear and understanding.

An intense, unspoken request rushed through the air.

"Calera." Lycin walked to Vulharis, Calera at his heels. "I'm sorry we couldn't have our talk after all, Sianna."

Vulharis clutched the eye. Red branches shot out of the Guard members behind him. They fell, the clanking of their armor a hollow and dead sound. Sianna stared at the floating pool of crimson above them, her reflection on it like a drowned corpse, and realized it too late.

"It was you!" Denck shot to Vulharis, his sword drawn.

Vulharis stopped him by gripping his broken face, jeweled fingers crawling over it. He squeezed. Deneck's gasp caught in his throat with a sick, wet sound. His skull exploded into dust, and his body collapsed and broke like a dropped vase.

"Deneck!" Reth rushed to the dusty pile of clothes.

"Come!" Kota said behind Sianna.

She wondered where the Nayichi had been until now, but she couldn't find her voice. Or her vision. The scene before Sianna--the sheen of Aleyda's scythe, the fire swarming around Phera's arms, and Venita's shadow growing and moving--was fading to whiteness. There was only the woman with the golden eyes, and she was talking to someone else. The only thing Sianna could see on that other person was a crooked smile. Just like Aldermeck's.