They didn't reach the island until dawn, the bright morning light blinding them. Rina had slept for an hour or two, waking constantly by the uneven rocking of the boat. Emrick and Isiah slept far better than she did, undisturbed even when she checked over the latter to make sure she hadn't made any mistakes when healing.

She had spent most of her time with Benj and Skyt, trying to get as much information from them as possible. There wasn't much they could tell her that they hadn't already said. Neither of them had gotten a good look at Ishin when he'd attacked Maeve, but Skyt had been close enough to see the figure that lived on his shoulder, just like she had. Harudan, watching as the God he controlled brutally murdered everyone who stood in his way.

Emrick and Isiah woke not long before they arrived on the deserted island, the latter blushing brightly when Rina smiled at him. It was good to see them back together, Isiah calm for the first time since the Sanctum of Belganine, despite nearly dying the night before.

That had been terrifying. She'd been happy to see Emrick, relieved that he had finally shown up after waiting for so long, but then she'd seen Isiah and all of her relief had been stolen from her like the breath in her lungs. For a long time, she wasn't sure if she would be able to heal him. She'd been so tired, her energy expended on the countless people in Liman that had been injured.

Her efforts on them would have gone to waste. The Ishini had won, just like she knew they would, but at least she had been able to save Isiah and get him to the island. Soon enough, they would be at the Sanctum of Teremtys and Isiah would have the final stone, the last piece he needed to become the Beast and save Vishera.

As Skyt brought the boat to shore, she checked on Isiah from afar. He stood next to Emrick, staring at the tree-covered island and looking as if he would vomit. Emrick had an arm around his waist, running a hand up and down his side. He was fine, she didn't need to worry about him.

"Do you need some help?" she asked Skyt. She needed to do something before the restlessness settled in her bones. Isiah's expression was one she understood. They were coming so close to the end, all of them were nervous.

Skyt startled and turned with wide eyes towards her. "Erm, not really," they said in a deep voice, their eyes darting about the boat. "There are some bags that need to come off, but I can get those."

"It's not a problem," she said and grabbed the nearest bags. Some of them were Emrick's anyway, it was only right that she carried them. Skyt didn't argue as she walked past them and jumped from the boat into the wet sand. Somehow, there was no snow on the island at all, it was like jumping straight into summer.

It was sunny and warm, the sun comfortable on her skin and the light breeze soothing. The beach stretched on, ending in a thick line of fir trees. Something about it seemed wrong, but she couldn't place what it was. Water lapped at her ankles, crystal blue and completely wrong for winter. It was far too nice on the island for the time of year and they weren't that far from the coast of Minisia.

"Doesn't this feel strange to you?" she asked whoever was nearby, but it was just Skyt, who stood in the sand next to her.

They nodded, their long white hair falling in front of their face. Half of it was pulled back into a band, the rest of it falling down their shoulders and back, completely straight. It was pretty and exactly how she wished her hair had been like when she was younger. Instead, hers had been a wavy mess that her parents had struggled to tame until she hit her teen years.

"It's too... nice," they said, their thin lips pulled down into a frown.

She walked up the beach as the others jumped from the boat, Skyt at her side. There was no path through the thick trees that she could see, just the neverending dark firs. Frowning, she turned back to the rest of them, who were digging through their bags. "Get what you need. I think we should start the search for the Sanctum now," she said.

"We don't have much time," Isiah agreed, running a hand through his hair. They had so little time left that agitation flowed through her constantly. Harudan would be marching on her home as they stood in the sand and they were still searching for the stones.

Isiah strode past her, heading up to the treeline, Emrick trailing behind him. Benj and the Ishini doctor shrugged at each and followed. His name was Orvo and she couldn't find a single reason for why her brother would work with him, considering how he had reacted to Isiah and Emrick when they'd arrived in Maeve. But he had barely spoken since they'd reunited. His explanation of what had happened after they left had been quiet and sad; he felt guilty for what had happened, even though it wasn't his fault. He had done all he could, even if it wasn't enough.

Eventually, she and Skyt were the only ones still standing near the boat, her lost in her thoughts and them lost in their bags. "What are you looking for?" she asked and Skyt answered her by pulling out a bow and a quiver of arrows.

"My bow," they said and her mind flashed back to the fight at Maeve.

She frowned, knowing that the chances of her being right were low, but from what she had seen, there had only been one archer in that entire fight. "During the battle for Maeve, there had been an archer who killed a man who would have killed me. They saved my life," she said, earning a strange look from Skyt. "Was that you?"

There was a long moment of silence as they stared at her, the breeze making their hair flutter. It gave her a chance to get a better look at them. Their face was soft, kind, strange for someone so stoic, all chubby cheeks and small noses. "Yes," they said in a voice that was such a sharp contrast to their face that it almost shocked her.

She smiled and started up the beach, carrying one of the bags on her back. "I never got to thank you for that," she said, looking over her shoulder at them.

"You don't need to," they said as they caught up to her, walking slowly towards the group waiting by the tree line. "It was my job."

"I will anyway. Thank you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here now," she told him in complete seriousness. "That could be said for quite a few people too." She shot a look at Isiah and Emrick, who had saved her countless times from death. Emrick had rescued them from Huton when she was about to be executed and Isiah had been the one to first save her. She owed them so much.

The four men waited impatiently for them, Isiah's face scrunching with something she couldn't decipher. "Let's get moving," he said and there was a tremble in his hands. Her brief conversation with Skyt had served as a distraction for a moment, but it wasn't enough. Every single person there was a reminder of what they were trying to do and what was at stake if they failed.

She had come so close to going home, but she couldn't go back to a destroyed city and an Ishini on the throne. When she went home, she wanted it to be when they defeated Harudan and Ishin, when the war was over and there was peace. She wanted to be able to talk with her father about the things that needed to change in Minisia, and wanted to get ready for her reign as Queen.

But first, they had to find Teremtys and from the strangeness of the island, she was sure that they were there somewhere. There wasn't enough time to master the stones and figure out what was going on with Emrick, but there had to be something Isiah could do to stop Harudan and Ishin. There was so little time to do anything and there was always a chance that they would arrive in Ziya too late. If that happened, she would cut Harudan down where he stood and become the next Queen of Minisia.

She was the first into the trees, even though they hadn't picked a direction. None of them had any idea where they were supposed to go; it was best to just start walking and pray to Gods she no longer believed in that they found it quickly. "Come on," she said to those behind her, shooting Isiah her most reassuring smile.

He was alive all thanks to her. It had been awful to watch him lying there, blood spilling onto the wood planks and listening to Emrick cry and beg for her help. When she had imagined her reunion with her friend, that was not what she had expected. But at least he and Emrick had been able to have their own better reunion.

The trees were thick and walking through was difficult. She constantly had to push the branches out of the way or duck underneath them, the occasional stray one scraping her cheeks. Isiah and Emrick walked next to her, both of them deathly silent. Skyt and Benj were on her other side, the doctor lagging behind. No one spoke a word but their trembling breaths said enough. Even Benj and his companions, who hadn't been there from the start and didn't understand completely, were nervous.

She needed a distraction. Her mind was racing, supplying her with awful images of what would happen should Isiah fail, because there was a higher chance of them losing than winning. All she could think about was how useless the fight for Maeve had been considering they had lost it anyway and the coming battle for Ziya. Ishin was a terrible force. Watching him turn the sky orange with fire had struck her with more fear than she had ever felt and it had only gotten worse the moment she'd left Isiah and watched the tornado bare down on him.

She never should have left him, but at least he was alright and alive. As they walked, she reached across and squeezed his hand, an attempt at reassuring both of them. He smiled at her, but it was weak and watery and all she wanted to do was tell him that it would be alright. Not even she believed that though.

For hours they walked through the thick forest under the hot sun, never once finding anything that resembled the Sanctum. The longer they walked, the more agitated all of them felt, but none of them spoke out. They needed to get to the Sanctum as fast as possible but there was nothing on the island. They couldn't have come all that way only to find out that Teremtys wasn't there, that it was all for nothing. None of them could afford to be wrong, to have to find another potential place for Teremtys to be.

Instead, she tried to find a distraction through the people around her. Emrick and Isiah had pushed to the front of the pack, talking quietly among themselves. Sometimes Isiah laughed and the sound brought a smile to her face. Benj stayed at the back and whenever she looked at him, he would deliberately look away. She didn't know the other Ishin well enough to want to talk to him.

So Skyt it was. "You weren't a part of the army, were you?" she asked and it took a moment for them to realise that she was talking to them.

"No," they said with a shake of their head.

"Then how do you know how to shoot so well?"

"Years of practice," Skyt replied and shrugged. "I used to hunt for food before all of this. There were competitions too, that's how I got most of my money. I never saw the point of joining the army, I didn't want money for killing innocent people."

She scoffed. "They're not innocent."

"Some of them are," Emrick said from ahead of them, looking over his shoulder at her with an expression so serious that it stopped any of the words that had come out of her mouth. Hadn't he been the one who believed that anyone in the armies deserved to die? What had changed? When had it changed? But it wasn't any of her business. If he was going to talk to anyone about it, it would be Isiah.

She took a breath before she spoke again, nodding at Skyt. "It's an admirable reason," she told them and they smiled softly at her, a slight tweak of their lips, barely noticeable. "I'm glad you eventually decided to fight."

"I had no choice in the matter. Never thought I would end up here though, of all places," they said, sadness lacing their voice. "It is an honour to fight with you, Your Highness."

She laughed, surprising not only herself but Skyt as well. "You needn't be so formal," she said, chuckling. "By now, most people call me Rina."

"His Highness doesn't allow me to call him by his name," Skyt replied, fidgeting with their hands.

"Benj is uptight."

"I make sure people know their place," Benj said. The conversation was surprisingly light for the situation, but it was good that they could find some way to relax and ignore their stress, even for only a few minutes.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Nothing wrong with allowing people close to you to call you by your name, Benj," she said to him before turning back to Skyt. "Rina is fine, if I am allowed to call you Skyt."

"Of- Of course," they replied and bowed their head. Still formal, but better than nothing. It had to be strange, to meet their future Queen and be so casual with her, but after everything that had happened, she didn't want to be formal with people. She wanted to be there for her people, not foreign to them like her father was.

She was pulled from her thoughts by Isiah running ahead of them. "This way!" he yelled back to them. All of them hurried after him, ignoring the sting of the branches against their skin.

"Isiah, what is it?" Emrick asked and stopped when they reached a pillar, not unlike those at both Askarune's and Belganine's Sanctums. Isiah was still running ahead of them and she tried to catch up with him, grabbing Emrick's hand to drag him along.

Then all at once, the trees ended and the group stumbled into a large clearing. Isiah stood in the middle of it, staring up at the bare door stuck in the rocky face of a small cliff. She stopped next to him and took a deep breath. The Sanctum of Teremtys, it was there, they had found it and all she wanted to do was laugh hysterically. As Emrick stopped at Isiah's other side, she held it back, her entire body shaking with anticipation.

Benj and the others stood between the trees, watching in silence. She hissed in a breath and turned to Isiah. "Shouldn't the God be here, like Askarune?" she asked.

"I don't know," he answered and took a deep breath. "I think the only thing we can do is open the door. Do you still have your stone?"

He didn't even need to ask. She pulled it out, the green glow shining around the clearing. If they could still open the door with Emrick the way he was, she wasn't sure, but all they could do was try. Isiah held his stones in both hands and with a deep breath taken in unison, the three of them walked towards the door.

A familiar rumble sounded in her ears and a nervous grin spread across her lips, anticipation making her stomach ache. The stone was only a few minutes away, there was no God to give Isiah a trial, he could just take it and go. It meant that there was no one there to help them, but they would be able to figure something out, surely.

Just like every other Sanctum, the door opened to a black void. This was the last of them, the final Sanctum, the final stone. It was almost over, their travelling, the fighting, the war. In a matter of days, everything would be over. Her travelling was over, the next place she would go to was Ziya. After weeks of running and hiding and fighting, it was all about to end with the creation stone.

As the three of them watched in nervous silence, a figure appeared from the void beyond the door. She squinted, trying to make out what it looked like and gasped when they came into the light. The familiar dark hair and beard, pale orange skin and innocent eyes of Isiah stared back at her from the doorway.

She gaped and the Isiah next to her let out a sharp gasp. "M- Mother?"