Autumn 4994, 15 Aoimoth 

Masters Velona and Veon-Zih insisted that they take an extended break during the afternoon meal to mediate. Tuth had rolled his eyes but didn't argue, pulling out his spellbook and plopping down on the ground with the rest of them to take notes. The scratching of his pen blending into the background with the scraping of Yua's leather oil as she took the time to tend to her equipment.

Shon had enough practice with the exercise that even Lily being with them couldn't distract him from relaxing into his breath. Clearing his mind and calming the emotions that seemed to be fighting against their cage like so many fluttering birds. 

When they started off again, adjusting their heading as indicated by the compass, Shon had found a calm equilibrium he hadn't felt since before the draken attack only days previous. He walked beside Lily and close to the others, listening to them talk about the mission and actually feeling part of the group even if he didn't interject often.

"I know it could take a long time," Tuth was saying, "but it probably won't. The plains are huge, but we're traveling as the crow flies. The shortest distance between two points and all that." 

"The tribes are nomadic though," Yua pointed out, "and in Lenare, they're master horsemen. No one rides like a grassland barbarian." 

Shon shook his head, "They're only as fast as the slowest among them."

Master Velona huffed, "You know that doesn't mean what the Temples preach, right? They don't cull the weak to preserve their strength. Only draken do that."

"Or subjugate them, like the Horsa lot," Master Veon-Zih added, "I've known some very honorable barbarians over the years."

Shon arched an eyebrow at the Monks and caught sight of Lily as he did. Ryuuko, perched on her shoulder, mirrored her tilted head at him. He sighed, was that really want they assumed he thought?

Shon shook his head, "It means they let the slowest set the pace," he explained. 

Lily beamed, "I didn't know you had any dealings with the tribes." She gave a little skip to walk ahead of the rest, turning around to talk to them all, "I've spent a lot of time with the tribes from all over. I honestly like them a lot more than the kingdom if I had to choose." 

Shon hadn't dealt with any barbarians yet -whose tribes wandered the wilds of the kingdom- but he'd studied them at Hamerfoss. He remembered the first time he'd heard the mantra by which the nomads lived. Even then, he knew his fellow Squires had misinterpreted it. Just because the barbarians lived primitive lives -by their standards- didn't make them less human. Before he could say anymore, however, Yua chimed in with a broad smile, "I'm sure they would be happy to have you, Lily. What keeps you in the kingdom if you feel that strongly for them?" 

Lily shrugged, "None of them travel quite far enough, and they are rather insular in their own way. I would need to go tribe hopping to be really happy, and at that point, I might as well go town and city hopping too, which requires I stay up to date with the kingdom." 

"That's exactly what you do," Tuth pointed out, "I don't think we've stayed still for longer than a week." They had reached the rolling hills of the deep plains, and the Mage had to catch his breath between each word as they started up one particularly steep slope, "Of... all the people... my... mentor... had to pawn me off... on... it had... to be... you..."

Yua snickered, "Speaking of the slowest among us." Tuth glared at her. 

"Aw, poor Tuth," Lily crooned, "Do you want Shon to carry you? You weigh about as much as his pack." 

The Mage growled between gasping breaths, "Fuck... you... Lily..." which just made her laugh. 

"Language," Velona admonished him, "We can stop at the top for a breather and to get our bearings." 

Shon rolled his eyes, and Lily must've read his mind because she turned to walk beside him again and bumped him with her hip, asking, "How many push-ups do you think that would've earned you back in the day?" 

"As many as I could do before collapsing, then a few more besides," Shon answered. 

They crested the top of the hill together, and Shon had to shield his eyes from the glare of the setting sun. It was another cloudless day, but to the south of the sun brewed a storm moving north. 

Yua came to stand beside him, also shading her eyes with one hand while raising her other to hold her fingers out along the horizon. The Ranger nodded expertly and said, "At our current speed, it should pass us by." She shot an evil grin over her shoulder at the panting Mage who'd just made it to the top, "It will pass ahead of us before we camp. We might even get a little sprinkle to cool us off." though this close to true winter it was already chilly.

"Well, let's keep going then," Master Veon-Zih called cheerfully, starting down the hill while Tuth whined. Shon made to start after his Master, but... 

Stop...

Shon froze midstep, covering his face, then running his hand through his hair. What...

Ryuuko took off from Lily's shoulder, flying ahead of the Monk then spinning in the air to chitter in his face.

"Stop," Shon echoed the voice in his mind at the same time that Veon-Zih asked the pseudodragon,

"What's wrong?"

Lily made to pass them both, looking curiously at Ryuuko as she did. 

Stop...

"Stop," Shon said again, louder. 

"Shon?" Veon-Zih furrowed his brow in concern. Ryuuko landed on his shoulder, its wings sagging in relief. 

Running his hand through his hair again, Shon looked around the horizon, listening hard but hearing nothing. "We'll camp here..." he finally managed. 

"We still have a few hours of light," Master Velona tried to argue, but Lily rested a hand on her Master's arm. 

She stepped closer to Shon, leaning down to tilt her head up at him from below. He stared into her eyes, trying to will her to understand what he didn't.

Lily nodded. Straightening again and turning to the others, she said, "I'm done for the day. Let's camp here." 

"But-" Yua started, but Tuth just sighed, dropping right to the ground in a heap of robes and exhaustion. 

"Paladins..." he breathed. This time gratefully. 

Shon flinched, turning away from them all to watch the black storm advance across the horizon. He wasn't a Paladin. He'd opened his heart to his god and been rejected, left empty and alone. He couldn't feel Hengist's will like a Cleric or Paladin -who held a piece of the god in their soul. But he'd felt something... heard something. That shouldn't be possible, even for a Paladin. 

"Is that red lightning?" Master Veon-Zih asked, coming up beside Shon and shielding his eyes to stare at the clouds. 

Shon squinted and saw a flash of green, then, "Purple..." Master Velona said on Veon-Zih's other side, "What does it mean?" 

Tuth groaned, crawling to his feet and joining them. Standing beside Shon and squinting into the distance, he said, "Magic... It's a storm of wild magic..." he shrugged and turned away. Lily took his place, reaching over to grab Shon's hand.

The Mage continued, "They happen sometimes. There are several theories as to why and how, but none have been proven yet."

"I've heard of them. Isn't that what started the forest fire on the border?" Yua asked. 

"I'd heard that too, but also something about a volcano?" Veon-Zih confirmed.

"I thought they were supposed to be rare, like once a decade," Velona chimed in, "But my brother said they've started manifesting more often. He was studying them in Halakon." Lily squeezed Shon's fingers tight, and he looked down to see her swallow, her eyes locked on the storm. 

Tuth waved his hand dismissively. "They're natural phenomena. Their numbers increase and decrease in waves over the centuries. We've just been in a spike for the last two or three decades," He gestured around them, at miles and miles of grass as far as the eye could see, "They trigger other natural phenomena, like volcanoes. But there's nothing here. It's fine."

"Yeah..." Lily said, but her voice quavered.

"Lily?" Shon turned away from the storm to stroke her face, and she turned wide eyes to him.

"I... It's nothing," She looked away and even took a step back towards Tuth, "I'll start the campfire. Where do you-"

Shon pulled her back to him, "Lily," he squeezed her hand and turned her face again, arching a silent eyebrow down at her.

"The Warlocks..." she whispered, "They said the storms were getting worse. More of them and stronger. They said that it would only continue to get worse. Until the world was destroyed. Unless they could bring back the dragons." 

Shon ran his thumb over her scales, and she trembled. The Warlocks who'd kept her for samples. Breeding animals with dragon blood to try and bring back the beasts that had subjugated humans since the beginning of time. Until Saint Giorgos and his allies had killed them all and become gods. "Warlocks are mad, Lily..." he reminded her. 

"I know," She shook her head, "Morndancer and Shaloon certainly were, but Brom and Ran... they were kind." 

"Is everything okay over there?" Veon-Zih asked from the group now setting up camp. 

Shon ignored him, "Maybe by comparison, Lily, but they still held you the same as the others." 

"I..." Her lip trembled, and Shon ran his thumb over it. Before he could speak, however, Velona came up between them,

"Lily? What's wrong, my flower?" 

Lily painted on a smile, and Shon had never seen anything so fake. So... wrong. "It doesn't matter." not a direct lie but not truth either, "What's for dinner tonight? I vote stew." she pulled away and Shon let her go, bringing his hands down to clench at his side.

*** 

Shon got the night off watch that night. Between the storm stirring in the distance, his own mysterious experience, and Lily's distress, he struggled to fall asleep, but did finally drift off...

And woke up in Hamerfoss...

Shon's room was exactly as he remembered. Only six feet squared, his bed taking up the entire wall with the small window, a little desk beside him holding only his journals, and his sword dangling off the side of the chair, its pommel clear as glass. 

Ryuuko flew in through the open window -sprinkling snow over him- and landed on the sword with a chirp. It shook itself clean of snow, its scales still showing its late autumn colors of dark forest brown with splashes of orange and red, the stone gray and white only just starting to spread from its spine and wingtips in preparation for winter. 

Shon sat up and looked out the window to find that it was indeed snowing, and fell back onto the bed with a groan. It always snowed in his dreams of Hamerfoss. He covered his face with both hands and strongly considered just staying in the room, maybe trying to fall back asleep and get a normal dream within this one. 

Ryuuko jumped over to land on his chest and scratch at the back of his hands. "Fine!" he shouted to the pest of a dragon, picking it up by the neck and dropping it onto the ground. Or trying to. It took flight as he let go, landing on the doorknob and scratching at the wood for him to hurry. 

It was a recurring dream he had at least once a season. So Shon knew when he opened the door that it wouldn't lead to the hall of the Squire's barracks as it should. Instead, it took him directly to the courtyard three stories down, where snow dusted the neat paths and sparring rings regardless of the waking season. 

Shon made his way around the fortress towards the curtain wall where a bench waited with a barrel for rain runoff beside it. A man sat on the bench, his white hair holding a metallic sheen like Lily's. But where hers was gold, his was white. He smiled sadly at Shon, who ignored him.

Instead, Shon went to the barrel and broke the thin layer of ice that formed over the water's top. He took his time to splash his face and down the back of his neck before sighing and finally sitting down. 

Ryuuko curled on the man's lap, and he pet down the purring dragon's back with one pale hand. "What do you want?" Shon finally asked. 

The man didn't answer his question. He never did, "You've opened up." Shon grit his teeth but said nothing. The man sighed, looking to the sky with blue eyes the same shade as Shon's, "Thank you." he said.

Shon glared at him, "Who are you?" but that was an even more pointless question. 

"You should know... if I could do more, I would..." 

Shon stood, "Do what?" 

"My father does not use his tools gently..."

"What are you talking about?!" Shon shouted.

The man opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Shon's head started to pound and sting, and Ryuuko crooned worriedly at him. His chest seemed to swell, and the man's voice floated over him as if from far away, "It's not time yet... the temple... time..."

Shon woke in a sweat, sitting straight up and making himself dizzy. He fell back onto his blankets and covered his eyes with his arm. These dreams always made him feel his failed vigil all over again. Ripping him open only to leave him hollow in the end. 

Be careful... The man's voice whispered in the back of his mind, and Shon rolled over, praying as loud as he could to Hengist for a dreamless sleep. 

***

The following day, the party made their way between the hills, cresting one every few hours to check the compass and adjust their bearings. As the morning stretched into noon, Lily started to get antsy, "Where are all the damn monsters!" she finally shouted to the sky. 

Yua looked shocked, while Tuth huffed, Velona snickered, and Veon-Zih and Shon both arched their eyebrows at her. "We should've been attacked by now," Lily said, pointing an accusing finger at each of the Monks in turn, "You two are projecting danger vibes, aren't you?" 

"And deny you a fight to break up the monotony?" Velona asked with a smile. 

"We wouldn't dream of it, Lily," Veon-Zih assured her sarcastically.

For most citizens, it was dangerous to leave the protective walls of the kingdom settlements. Draken, kobolds, drakwalves, and even giants, as well as all manner of mysterious monsters, all lurked in the wilds, ready to turn any insufficiently protected humans into their next victims. But such monsters weren't stupid, and even the animalistic drakwalves could detect danger when they sensed it from experienced adventurers and guards. 

"I don't know, Lily," Yua said with a grin, making a show of studying her, "I think you're the one giving off the 'fight me and die' energy..."

Tuth huffed again and jerked his thumb towards Shon, "My money's on ice-man. Even townsfolk would avoid him in the mood he's been in today." 

Lily looked to Shon too, but Yua was the first to agree. "He's got a point, big guy. Yesterday I thought you might finally be warming up to us, but today..." she let the sentence trail off, shaking her head. 

As if to prove their point, Shon just glowered before starting off again, walking through the dip between the rolling hills. Lily made to follow him, but Veon-Zih called out to her, and she stopped to tilt her head at him, "It's going to take time," he reminded her. 

"He might need some space," Velona added, walking forward to pat Lily's cheek as she made to follow Shon from a comfortable distance. 

Lily ran past her, shouting over her shoulder, "Then he can tell me that." She caught up with Shon and walked a few steps up a hill beside him, making her a few inches taller. He glanced up at her, and Lily smiled down at him, "I get the feeling I won't be able to be taller than you very often." 

He didn't respond, only looking forward again. Lily hummed, leaping behind him over to the hill on the other side to walk there instead, still above him, "I'll leave you alone if you tell me to Shon, no questions asked." 

"No," He said, then reached up to grab her belt and pull her closer, "I don't want you to leave." 

Lily sighed and rested her head on his shoulder, their smooth steps making it bounce less than it would for most people, "Then I won't," she said simply. 

Ryuuko flew circles around the party as they walked, as silent as its human. "There should be a village just southwest of us," Yua said.

"The compass has us going due west," Tuth countered. 

"We can take a detour," Veon-Zih informed him. Lily heard an "oof" as the Monk smacked the Mage on the back, "I hear they have amazing hot springs in this area, and I haven't had a truly decent bath since we left Oane."

Lily looked over her shoulder to watch the others talk. Tuth scoffed, "A bath doesn't have to be public to be good." 

"But it does have to be hot," the Monk countered, "and deep enough to soak." 

Lily clapped her hands, "I love Oane baths! We should definitely stop." 

Velona laughed and looked slyly at her student, "I thought you wanted this mission to be over with already?" 

"It's only a small delay." Lily argued, "It isn't like the Sorcerer can hide from the compass anyway. The Guild can wait." She didn't add that they would be able to get rooms in a proper village...

She turned to Shon to gauge his opinion but hadn't yet read his face when Yua called, "Wait..." 

They all stopped, watching as Yua ran up the side of the hill and crouched in the long grass. Ryuuko dove down to land on her head and stretch its neck to whatever she had found, then hissed angrily and took flight again. Shon furrowed his brow and moved to the Ranger's side, Lily hot on his heels. 

Yua had reached into her pack and pulled out a thick falconers glove. Slipping it on, she picked up a pheasant, quite dead but with no markings of a predator attack. "Careful..." she whispered to Shon and Lily, pointing to three more dead birds hidden in the grass.

"What happened?" Veon-Zih asked, catching up. 

"I don't know." Yua shook her head, "Disease? There aren't any wounds, but the entire flock? At the same time?"

"Poison?" Tuth asked, but Yua could only shrug. 

"I guess we should go to the village. If there's someone or something spreading poison enough to kill the wildlife, we should let the Temple know," Velona said.

Shon nodded, then whistled for Ryuuko. With a jerk of his head, he sent the pseudodragon ahead of them and turned back to the southwest. 

They continued in tense silence for an hour when Shon stopped, his eyes glazing over. "Shon?" Lily asked, studying his face and seeing it shift from worried to horrified before he shook his head and managed to focus on her again. 

"Something's wrong." he nodded to Veon-Zih, who returned the gesture without a word, then turned to Yua, "Stay with Tuth, follow as fast as you can but don't leave him behind." then to Lily and Velona, "Let's go,"

The Monks and their students ran, far outpacing their companions. When Ryuuko reappeared -twittering madly at them- Shon pointed to Veon-Zih and Velona, then ahead. Again Veon-Zih knew without needing an explanation. He tapped Velona on the shoulder and sprinted, the Masters leaving even Shon and Lily behind. 

"What is it?" Lily asked, jumping over a log, the dread growing as they drew closer to the town. Shon only shook his head.

She found out soon enough. They reached the town to find its tall walls deserted, the front gate shut and locked as if for the night. She could make out one of the Monks scaling the wall and dropping to the other side. The gate creaked open just as she reached it, gasping for air that tasted stagnant. 

Veon-Zih looked pale under his tan and truly old as he finished pushing the door open. Shon hadn't stopped or hesitated, just squeezing past and into the town. 

"Where are the guards?" Lily asked the Monks, but they both shook their heads. 

Lily followed Shon to find him standing in the doorway to the gatehouse, the two Temple enlisted dead at his feet. He turned away from the corpses and continued into the eerily quiet village. There were no sounds of life, no cats mewling or dogs barking, and the stables by the walls lacked the normal snuffing and shifting of horses. Lily typically avoided stables -not wanting to cause a panic. But a panic would be welcome now, and she walked to the open doors.

She fell back immediately. Every stall held only death, the horses laying on their sides -their eyes open and unseeing- with not even flies crawling over the corpses. 

Shon came out of the nearest building as Lily stumbled out of the stables. The streets were muddy, with fresh watermarks at least six inches up every wall. The great lake that was this village's livelihood sparkled innocently in the distance. 

"What... happened..." Tuth gasped from the gate, covering his mouth with his sleeve. 

"Search for survivors," Shon ordered, "Stay in pairs, Yua with me, Veon-Zih and Velona, Lily and Tuth. Go." 

Lily moved toward the Mage -who looked like he was going to be sick but tiptoed to the guards in the gatehouse anyway- "Can you turn them over without touching them?" Tuth asked.

She nodded, taking out her staff and using it to shift the nearest guard from his stomach to his side. "Burst blood vessels... blue tinge..." Tuth shook his head, and they continued, each of the pairs taking a different road, all leading to the lake. 

Tuth took the time to examine most of the bodies, growing less afraid of touching them the more they found. When they reached the others, it was to overhear Veon-Zih telling Shon "... have to report to the Temple."

"We haven't finished searching," Yua tried to argue, but Tuth stepped forward to interrupt, his voice flat.

"There aren't any survivors. It's asphyxiation." 

The blood drained from Yua's face, and Tuth's shoulders slumped. Lily didn't want to hear his explanation, walking away but unable to block it all out, "... gas from the lake, you see the watermarks? And the bodies, even the animals..." Lily choked, rounding the side of a large house to try and block his voice. But there, she found a kennel.

Lily opened the latch with shaking hands and fell to her knees. They had bred wolfhounds here... Dogs as tall as her chest and used for hunting in the long grass. Their wiry fur was gray, and their long legs were splayed out in a mess of limbs. Entwined and entangled with each other in death. 

She smelled iron and looked at her hands, seeing blood that wasn't there. Lily gagged, scrambling to her feet and turning from the kennel but falling to her hands and knees again outside it. She held herself tight, squeezing her arms hard enough for her nails to leave sharp dents in her skin. 

"Lily!" Velona's voice sounded far away, but she was right here, kneeling down to rub her back. 

"...limnic eruption..." Tuth was saying beyond the wall, walking with the others around the building. 

"We need to report it," Veon-Zih said again, but then they noticed Lily, and suddenly she was surrounded, boots slapping in mud that sounded like blood. 

"Stay back," Velona ordered sharply, and they all pulled back. Lily squeezed her eyes shut, but all she could see was red. Blood and fire. She heard again her treasures yelps and yowls of pain. Felt the heat around her neck as her golden collar melted. It was just like her nightmares, only she was awake. 

Then something cold cupped her cheeks. Lily looked up to see Shon's ice-blue eyes and remembered the first time she'd seen them. She couldn't remember losing control, melting the very tower stones into slag, but she remembered a path of ice... and blue eyes. 

"I'm fine," she mouthed, barely audible, then repeated louder, "I'm fine." She stood, trying to keep her legs from shaking, and brushed Master Velona's helpful hands aside. 

"Let's go," Shon spoke to the group at large, "We'll set up camp outside and send a message to the Temple."

***

Shon and Veon-Zih sat across from the fire on a double watch while the others slept. Shon had sent Ryuuko back with a detailed report -the little dragon would be able to find Shon at any location or distance through their bond- and had agreed with Tuth that they should keep going in the morning. Logically there was nothing they could do here, and they should check and see how far the devastation had spread as they continued west. 

Asphyxiation from poison air that had exploded up from the lake bed. Probably triggered by the storm they'd seen the night before. The gas had spread far enough that Tuth was confident that was what had killed the pheasants, and after searching the town, it was clear there'd been no survivors so close to the source.

Stop... The voice had told Shon to stop, but he should've run. Warned them somehow... Shon threw another stick onto the fire.

"We wouldn't have made it, you know..." Master Veon-Zih whispered, "I know what you're thinking, Shon. But even if Velona and I had gone full speed, we wouldn't have been able to get everyone clear in time."

Shon glared at the fire. He would've tried though... Tried and lost both Monks and possibly himself and Lily if they'd tried to keep up. How did you fight gas? Or a storm?

Lily whimpered in her blankets, rolling away from the fire and curling into a ball. Veon-Zih watched her, "She took it harder than I expected, the dogs more than the people," 

Shon knew why but he didn't know if it was his place to explain. As if summoned by his thoughts, the fire started to flicker as if in a high wind, the flames forming shapes. Wolves and large jungle cats, some with leathery wings others with scales, all roaring in pain and falling on their sides. 

Veon-Zih and Shon scrambled to their feet as the fire flared, reaching for the others who cursed and rolled out of their beds and away from the blaze. 

"Lily!" Velona called for the thrashing woman.

"Don't," Tuth grabbed the Monk by the arms and was nearly thrown into the fire as the Master fought back instinctually before realizing who it was. 

Yua shielded her face from the flame, now showing a burning tower melting into the form of a man holding out his fingers as if to snap. "What is it?" She called over the crackling roar.

"A nightmare," Tuth answered.

"A memory..." Velona breathed, barely audible over the fire. Lily clawed at her throat, gasping for air.

Shon passed them all, his skin tingling in response to Lily's magic. Inches from the fire but hardly feeling it, he knelt and took Lily's face in his hands. "Wake up, Lily." Her eyes snapped open, glowing red as coals before she blinked, and her beautiful dark blue returned. 

"Shon? I... I'm sorry," she pulled away from him, but for once, Shon didn't let her go. He reached behind her and pulled her into him, holding her hot and burning against his chest, his magic surging to counter hers. 

"You escaped them, Lily. You did." he whispered into her hair, "They can't hurt you or anyone you love ever again. You won't let them. You were stronger than them then, and you're even stronger now." She trembled in his arms, and he stroked her head with one hand, squeezing her tight with the other. 

"I... I need to calm down. I'll burn..."

"You can't burn me." 

Her shoulders bobbed, and he could feel her fingers curl in his shirt as the fire died back down. Her tears fell like magma on his skin, a sharp burn followed by a soothing cold as his power canceled it until they felt just like regular water. Shon kissed the top of her head, speaking against her hair, "Even if you don't need it, I will help. I will be here, always."