A.N: Extra chapter because we hit the ink goal on my tapas!

Ashera stood in the doorway, her lips pursed in confusion. Nerin couldn't see what there was to be confused about, his room was clean, the bed was badly made by her that morning, and yet, she looked as if something was out of place.

"What is it, Ashera?" he asked, the book from Turian's laboratory on the desk in front of him. It was where he had spent most of his free time, but he hadn't found anything that could possibly help him.

She startled, as if only just realising he was there. "An old man sent me to get you," she said, wrinkling her nose. "He said it was important."

"An old man? Fentir?" he asked, but all Ashera did was shrug.

Sighing, he closed the book and stood from his desk. It was safe to assume that Fentir was either in the war room or the throne room. Both rooms were near each other, so it wasn't too much of a walk. With Ashera by his side, he closed his bedroom door and started down the halls.

Without the crystal, the palace was cold. At his request, Ashera had bought him a piece of fyrite to amplify his powers. He hadn't needed to use a chunk of the stone since Isiah found Ishin's stone and it was strange to use it again. Compared to Ishin's stone and his crystal prison, Nerin's powers were nothing.

"Did Fentir say what was so important?" he asked as they walked down the spiral stairs of one of the palace's many towers.

Ashera shook her head, her messy hair whipping about. "He was mumbling, said something about a raven," she replied and froze, her face paling. "Do you think he found out about our raven?"

"I doubt it. A great many ravens are coming to the palace as of late. It's safe to assume that it's just an update on the war or the country. You don't need to worry, we haven't been found out," he explained and gave her a little pat on the head. There was a spark of fear within him, but he was able to ignore it, favouring a more logical reason for why he'd been called down from his room. Because he was running the country.

Despite his words, Ashera still looked nervous as they came out on the ground floor of the palace, not far from the throne room and entrance hall. If only Ashera had found out where Fentir was waiting for him. She wasn't the best servant, but he trusted her. From what he remembered, Isiah hadn't been very good either, not that he'd had much chance.

They eventually found Fentir in the war room, pushing the pieces on the map around with a thoughtful frown. Nerin turned to Ashera, smiling at her kindly. "You're free until dinner, Ashera, do as you wish," he said, knowing that she wouldn't do much. The other children would still be busy, they wouldn't be allowed to play.

Fentir gestured for him to come forward once Ashera had left, still frowning at the table. "There have been some developments," he said as he pushed the northern part of the army closer to Ziya. Just watching it made Nerin's heart sink into his stomach. "His Majesty and... Whatever that thing is... have reached General Juna."

His heart, lodged deep in his stomach, ached as if it were breaking. "What are the details?" he asked, his hands clenched into fists to hide their shaking.

Fentir pulled a letter from the pocket of his grey coat, crumpled and missing a corner. "His Majesty sent his drake back with the letter. It's not all good news. It would be best if you sat down," he said and gestured to a chair in the corner of the room. Frowning in confusion, he followed the old man's advice, dreading whatever it was Harudan had to say.

He read the letter slowly, his eyes taking in every word as if they meant something he couldn't understand. At first, all it did was detail his short journey with Ishin, then he reached the short paragraph about Maeve and his fingers clenched the paper so tightly he was sure it would rip.

Maeve was gone, destroyed by his brother at the same time he had Ashera send the letter to them. There was no way they would be able to get a note to Isiah. How would he know where he was supposed to go to get the next stone? Nerin couldn't react, not with Fentir watching his every move.

What he couldn't figure out was why. Why did Harudan feel the need to destroy Maeve? Yes, the Askari had taken it back, but was that a real reason to destroy it? Harudan had said he wanted to make Minisia a better place, but destroying its towns was not a good way of doing it. The only thing he could blame was Ishin and the power of a God getting to his brother's head.

The letter only got worse from there. Relief washed over him for a second when Harudan described reached the fake Sanctum of Askarune and not finding Isiah or Rina, but it was quickly ripped away when he read the news of Jonin's death. His lip stung from how hard he was biting on it, but he couldn't stop himself, lowering the letter and staring off into space.

He didn't know how he was supposed to feel about it. Jonin had been the one to chase them all over the realm, to kill his uncle and anyone else who stood in his way, but he was also someone who had been there all of Nerin's life. They hadn't spoken much, in fact, he'd always found him extremely intimidating, but it had been fun to hide away and see if the knight could find him.

Jonin was his brother's partner, even if they never told him as much. How was Harudan coping? Was he coping? It was safe to assume he wasn't and a large part of Nerin wanted to be there for him, despite everything that was going on. Losing someone was hard and their family had lost so much. Nerin already knew that he wouldn't miss Jonin, but the tears still fell, for his brother more than anyone else.

"Your Highness?" Fentir said, taking a step towards him.

Nerin held up a hand, stopping the old man in his tracks. "I'm not done, give me a moment," he said. There was so much information and he wasn't even at the end of the letter, there was more to read.

Every time he tried to read it, his eyes shot back to one particular sentence. Sir Jonin Hegor is dead. He couldn't look away from it, couldn't think past it and what it meant. Who had killed him? Emrick? Rina? It wasn't Isiah, that much was certain, but Harudan didn't even know that Emrick was still alive, so he would have assumed it was. And with Ishin up and about, gunning for the Beast, there was even more danger to Isiah.

And he couldn't do a thing about it. His letter to Maeve would be ash if it made it there before Harudan did, if not, no one would ever see it. The entire town was dead and gone. Isiah had no idea what was going on or where he was supposed to go. Nerin's only plan had been a failure.

With a sniffle in his nose, he finally continued reading the letter. There wasn't anything he could do except get as much information as possible so that he might be able to help Isiah. Fentir had said that Harudan had reached the army, but what had he and Ishin done after that? How badly were the Askari suffering?

His question was answered not long after. The entire portion of the army that had once stopped Juna was wiped out by Ishin's power. Harudan gushed about it like a girl in love and it made Nerin sick to his stomach. If Ishin could do so much, what did it mean for the rest of Minisia? Nothing good. Harudan was going to wipe them all out in order to get what he wanted. It was as if he didn't care anymore.

On the map on the table, most of the Askari statues were gone, leaving only the ones around a small port town and Ziya. It was obvious without reading the last part of the letter that Harudan would be heading to the port town next, where he would deal the same damage as last time. Nerin was going to vomit, expel his heart from where it lay in his stomach.

There had to be something he could do, something that would stop Harudan from destroying everything. Isiah would have some idea, surely, but with Ishin around, it wouldn't work. None of Nerin's notes to Minisia would do anything either, not with Maeve gone and Isiah somewhere in the country. He needed to come up with another plan and one whispered to him in the back of his mind, but he didn't want to think about it.

"Approximately how long until the army reaches Ziya?" he asked, standing from the chair and handing Fentir the letter.

The old man hesitated for a moment, confusion washing over his face. "Two weeks at most," he said and Nerin let out a quiet groan. "That isn't taking into account how fast that... thing moves. It would take more than a week for one person to reach the army if you travelled straight, but His Majesty did it in a matter of days. It is safe to assume that it would take less time with It."

It was more information than Nerin had expected, but all of it was useful. Two weeks at most, that was how long he had to do something before Ziya belonged to him and Harudan, two weeks for Isiah to find a solution for a God he didn't even know about. It was all too much.

"Two weeks," he muttered and shook his head. "Am I needed this afternoon?"

"N-no, not until after dinner."

"Then I will be in my room. I need to think."

Fentir watched him walk past, his brow crinkled with concern. "Your Highness!" he said and Nerin stopped. "I know this is a hard time for you, but if you need to talk..."

Nerin would rather talk to a tree than him. "Thank you, Fentir," he said anyway, walking out of the room as fast as he could.

He ran back to his room, passing servants who watched him with wide eyes, trying to ignore the hitch in his throat and the sweat running down his face. He had to think of something, but his mind was blank except for one thing and that was something he could never do.

Ashera was on his bed when he burst in, frowning at a book. She gasped when she saw him and jumped from the bed, knowing that it was something she shouldn't be doing, but even if he was in a good mood, he wouldn't have cared. Neither of them said a word, silence hanging between them, heavy and thick, then he broke it with a sob, dropping to his knees on the floor.

She moved quickly, dropping next to him and hugging him, her hair getting in his mouth and eyes. It didn't matter, he pulled her closer anyway and sobbed into her shoulder. It wasn't comfortable, it didn't make him feel any better, but it was better than being alone.

"What happened?" Ashera asked when they finally pulled away.

He explained everything to her as best he could, including Ishin and anything else he could think of. Ashera listened intently, but there were points where it was obvious that she didn't understand anything that was going on. He didn't blame her, there were still things that confused him.

In the end, they were both silent, both with tears in their eyes but Nerin had no idea what she was crying about. Maybe it was because he was crying. She was so young, younger than him and he was still a child. He shouldn't have burdened her with what he knew, but she deserved to know too if she was going to help him.

"I don't know what to do," he gasped, tears rolling down his cheeks again. "There has to be something I can do."

Fentir's words ran through his mind. It took a little over a week to get to Ziya and he still had two weeks before the army got there. If he made it there before Harudan did, he could warn them. Or he could send a raven. But surely the King of Minisia already knew what was coming for him. Any warning Nerin sent would be completely useless.

Harudan was going to destroy everything. He said he wanted to make Minisia a better place, but he was killing them all. And for what? What good would it do him to run a country of dead men? He'd already destroyed two towns and was well on the way to Ziya, which he would raze to the ground if someone wasn't there to stop him.

Isiah couldn't do it. Harudan wouldn't listen to him and Rina and Emrick would kill him on sight. The Beast that was Promised had awoken to deal with Ishin, not with Harudan. That was someone else's job, his job. The only person who could stop Harudan was someone he would listen to and he only listened to family.

Ashera let out a soft noise. "There has to be something we can do," she said.

There was something he could do. A little over a week to Ziya, two weeks until Harudan reached the city. He had time, he could make it and stop his brother. Fentir could look after the country, Nerin wasn't very good at it anyway. Ravens and notes wouldn't work, he had to stand up and do something, make up for his mistakes and stop his brother before Minisia was destroyed.

He stood with tear-stained cheeks and a tremble running through his body. "I know what I need to do."