Nyal woke up to sunlight shining brightly in his eyes. He groaned and rolled over, burying his head in his lumpy pillow and pulling the thin blanket tighter around himself. He had gone to bed without eating the night before and was starting to feel the consequences of that decision. His stomach was growling painfully, and he knew he had to get up soon.

He rolled over and stumbled out of his bed, his bare feet landing flat against the cold wooden floorboards. He hissed at the feeling. Padding around his room, he searched for clothes, putting on an outfit almost identical to the one he wore the day before, just not covered in mud.

When he was finally dressed, he looked around for his coat, seeing it sitting on the back of his desk chair, covered in hardened mud. He sighed, moving towards the door, where he had a near identical one on the back of it. He always kept a spare, because he dirtied his clothes way too often. Silas's coat sat on a hook next to his spare. It would need to be cleaned before he could return it. The inside of it was stained brown.

With a mumble and a groan, he threw on his coat and walked out the door. The smells or breakfast wafted up from the kitchen, luring him downstairs. His housemates were sitting at the table eating bowls of porridge and talking quietly among themselves.

"Good morning, Nyal!" one of the women, an older woman named Arabelle, chirped, pouring him a bowl of porridge. "You didn't eat dinner last night. Are you feeling okay? I'll pour you an extra big bowl of porridge." Nyal huffed out a quiet laugh.

"I'm fine, Arabelle, just had a busy day," he replied, taking the warm bowl from her hands and grabbing a spoon off the counter.

"Busy rolling in the mud like a pig," Azel squawked, laughing at his own joke. Nyal rolled his eyes at the childish man.

"Azel! By the Gods," Arabelle scolded, giving the other warlock a glare, "What are you? A child?"

"Leave it, Arabelle," Nyal grumbled sleepily, waving his hand at the pair of them and taking his own place at the table, "It's not a big deal."

"Are you sure?" Arabelle asked, a frown on her face, framed by golden hair.

"Yes," Nyal said, "He's just acting how he usually does."

"Well, okay," she sighed, shaking her head, "Anyway, aren't you meant to be heading to Fiume soon?"

"Um, no, actually," Nyal started, fiddling with the spoon in his hands, "They've taken me off the mission, I'll be getting something else soon."

"Oh, no," Arabelle said sympathetically, "You were so excited for that trip." He had been, despite the fact that he would miss running around the woods. But Fiume would have been new and different, a whole different kind of beautiful that he had been excited to see. He hadn't left Skodur in years. Now he had something more important to do.

"Do you know what you'll be doing instead?" Arabelle questioned.

Yes. "No," Nyal answered, "I'll find out soon."

"That's unfortunate," she replied, "I hope you get something better."

Nyal let out a small groan in reply, not really one for words so soon after he woke up. His conversation with Arabelle had already been more than enough. He shovelled food in his mouth, ignoring his housemates as the conversation drifted off without him. He was sure that at one point Azel had made another remark about his similarity with a pig, but he wasn't in the mood to address it.

"Well, my question is," Arabelle began, poking at Nyal's arm to get his attention, "Why were you such a mess when you came home last night, Nyal? By the Gods..."

Nyal was silent for a while, trying to come up with some excuse as to why he had been so dirty. He didn't want to mention the winged woman or the fire breather, just in case they were connected to the Key like his suspected. He had been told to keep it quiet, and he definitely didn't want to get anyone else involved in the mess.

"I was walking in the woods," he started hesitantly, hearing a faint snort from Azel, "Near the river. I slipped, and fell in."

Azel roared with laughter when Nyal finished his story, causing Arabelle to hit him over the head and start scolding him once more. She yelled at him until his quietened down, but there was still a hint of a smirk on his face.

"Oh dear," Arabelle eventually said, "And you had to go to WGP like that?"

"Unfortunately," was all Nyal said, wincing as Azel laughed harder. He found himself resisting the urge to drown his housemate, something he found himself thinking about regularly ever since he had met the man. It wouldn't be hard to do.

He went back to eating, wishing he was anywhere but at his home. He was planning on heading back to the woods to scope out the area he had fought the fire breather, hoping there would be some kind of clue near the river. Part of him felt like he was grasping at straws.

He finished his food quickly, inoring the unpleasant feeling in his chet from eating too quickly. He stood from the table, thanking Arabelle for the meal and placing his bowl in the share house's tiny kitchen.

"Where are you off to today?" she asked, eye following him as he walked.

"Back to the river," he answered, "I think I lost something in the fall."

Azel barked out a laugh, "Of course you did!" he exclaimed, "Try not to fall again!" His voice came out in a shrill lilt, almost like a song, making him grit his teeth.

"Keep your mouth shut before I shut it for you, Azel!" Nyal snapped, eyebrows furrowing and eye narrowing into a glare.

Azel only scoffed, rolling his eyes at Nyal and not saying a word. Nyal continued to glare, ignoring Arabella as she scolded the other man, until Azel tore his gaze away with an irritated grumble.

A quick jog upstairs allowed Nyal to grab his sword and put on his boots, which he had polished and cleaned the night before. He clambered back down the stairs, waved a goodbye to his housemates before leaving the house.

It was still early in the morning and the cobblestong streets were filled with men and women rushing to get to their jobs. Children were scampering around, probably on their way to their classes or the appreticeships they held if their parents couldn't afford schooling.

The church down the road was quickly filling up for their morning session of prayer, the huge crowd attracting Nyal's attention. He wandered down the packed street towards the entrance of the huge domed building. Like every other building it was made of grey Skodurian stone, lined with stained glass windows and bright green vines that stood out from the pale grey of the stone. The domed roof was made of different coloured glass, each side shining a different colour of the rainbow.

He pushed himself through the crowds and into the huge dark wooden doors. He looked up at the roof, the twinkling glass shining bright colours on the five stone statues and the alters in front of them that lined the circular room.

To his left stood Altair, the god of the oceans, and Prirae, the goddess of nature. Fisherman and farmers were crowded around the two statues, placing gifts of fish and wheat at the stone feet, praying for a good harvest next year.

To his right was Zeteliorem, the goddess of death. She took away the souls of the departed to their final resting place, Rever, where the soul would relive their happiest memories. Not many people stood around her statue, only the old and families of those who had recently passed. They offered animal sacrifices to the goddess so that she would guide the deceased a safe passage into Rever.

Next to Zeteliorem was Sapien, the god of wisdom. There were many people surrounding his statue, asking for advice in their hard times. Many offered gifts of whatever they had, just for the chance that they would get the answers they seeked. Nyal saw one woman place a twinkling necklace on the alter, weeping as she prayed. He tore his eyes away, trying to give her as much privacy as the large open room would allow.

His gaze drifted towards the statue that stood opposite the doors, the biggest of the five. Yararanje, the god of creation, the father of all the others, and the creature of all the creatures in Veridun. Legends stated that he was the father of the demigod, the Gate Keeper.

Yararanje's statue had the largest crowd surrounding it. Men, women, and children sat on their knees, heads bowed towards the cold stone ground as they prayed for health and happiness. Many gifts of crops, animals and jewlery sat around the alter, sacrifices so that Yararanje would favour them, and bring them good fortune.

This was the god he was seeking out.

He made his way forward, feeling out of place with his empty hands, but that didn't matter. He only made it as far as the middle of the room, staring up at the stone face of Yararanje. Orange light from the glass ceiling shone on the statues face, illuminating the blank stone eyes that seemed to be staring down at him. The statue had it arms out in a pose Nyal assumed to be welcoming, but instead looked arrogant, as though Yararanje were better than the rest of the gods. I suppose he would be, Nyal thought with a shrug.

Hands bunched at his sides, Nyal stared up at the god. "I know I don't have anything to offer," he started, voice quiet in the loud room, "But that shouldn't matter, not now. We need help, you need to help us. Help us find the Gate Keeper, and the Key, so that we can save your realm. I don't know what I need to do."

He sighed, watching people walk past him towards the alter of the god that had created them all. He hoped Yararanje would listen, but the amount of prayers he got everyday... There wasn't much of a chance of it. All he could do was hope that their current situation would warrant Yararanje listening more closely than usual. He turned a left, pushing through the throngs of people. He wanted to get out before morning prayer began properly.

The streets had mostly settled by the time Nyal left, the only people he saw were children playing the mud, and a few men and women running towards the market place. Despite the crowds thinning, the streets were still loud, filled with the thud of footsteps and the laughter of happy children. It made him smile.

It wasn't long before he made it to the city gates, spotting the guards up on the walls just like the day before. They stood with their backs facing him, watching the outside road for newcomers. Nyal let out a whistle, making a group of them turn towards him.

"I need to go through," he yelled, "My name is Nyal Belthorne, I work for the Guild!"

"I remember you!" a familiar voice yelled. It took Nyal a moment to realise that it was the guard he had splashed with water yesterday. He let out a quiet laugh as the guard ordered the gate to be opened.

The gate rolled up and Nyal walked through, his hands tucked deep into his pockets to get away from the cold bite in the air. With a quick look, he found the place in the woods he had come out of yesterday. The branches of the bushes had been disturbed, bent and broken, making it obvious that a person had pushed through. He was usually a lot more careful with the nature that surrounded him, but he must have been so exhausted after the fight that it hadn't mattered to him.

With a frown, he gently pushed his way through, not wanting to break the leaves and branches anymore than he already had. He could hear the rver rushing nearby and made his way towards the calming sound.

It didn't take him long to get to the small clearing he had been in the day before. A quick glimpse showed nothing out of the ordinary, a rushing river, lush green grass, tall trees, the sound of forest animals rushing about. He couldn't help but smile, relishing in the sounds and smells of nature.

A deeper look showed the signs of the night before. Walking forward, scorch marks could be seen on the dark wood of the tree he had been cornered against. He ran his hand along them, his eyebrows furrowing deeply.

He wracked his mind, trying to remember if he had ever heard of any creature that could breathe fire like the man had. He knew of warlocks who could weild fire like it was a part of them, but none that could breathe it. He would have to do some deeper research. There was a library attached to the Guild building as part of the castle, and one near the church. They weren't the most extensive libraries, if he wanted that he would have to go to Fiume, but it was the best he had.

He turned, running a hand through his hair. He wasn't even sure why he came. He didn't know what he was going to find there, if there was anything. Part of him had told him to come back, some kind of gut instinct, but all he found were scorch marks, which were essentially useless to his investigation. He sighed, tipping his head up towards the sky, the sunlight blinding him momentarily.

And there it was, sitting among the leaves like it belonged there. A large black feather, the size of his forearm. It sat in the twisted bough of a tree, the black stark against the bright green leaves.

"By the Gods..." he whispered, darting forward and jumping gracefully up the tree. He was worried that as soon as he got up there, the feather would fall and he would lose it to the river. Nimbly balancing on the thick main branch of the tree, he made his way towards the feather, arms out to keep his balance. The branches had been bent and broken when the women had flown through them, as though she had struggled to get in the air. It made it hard to find stable branches to grab, worry that he would grab the wrong branch and fall gnawing at his stomach.

Crouching down on the tips of his toes, he grabbed the midnight black feather. It was soft between his fingers, exactly like a birds feather. It might well have been, but Nyal knew it belong to the winged woman. There was no one else it could belong to.

Nyal jumped down from the tree, landing with a little skip in his step. This was evidence, of some sort, if his idea was right. He could bring this to Silas when he returned the coat. If he showed the Guild leader the feather when he told his story, there was more of a chance of him believing him.

Silas may even be able to tell him who it belonged to, and help him figure out who the fire breather was. He would still do some reading, but books wouldn't be able to tell him why the fire breather looked so familiar. It had only been a day into his investigation, but it didn't seem as futile as it once had.