Ruli glanced at hear, debating on how to answer. Envy kept quiet, letting Ruli sort it out on his own. "I can do what the Kartaians can." He stated at last. "The compelling. Touch control."
"I taught him." Envy said, as if this helped soften the admission. "It was once his way of getting information for me in Ziad. Helpful. Harmless."

Swallowing, Ruli nodded. "Before we go in, I could show you Ziad as it was. A strong memory. Something peaceful. I would make no commands, but give you a better idea of what to track." He rubbed his face, unenthusiastic. "Trying to find the items in Ziad wont be easy. May not even be possible. And invited far more risk, especially if they know you're here, and that kid has your blade. He wore that for show. They're going to expect something, and that is too easily playing into her hands."

“You mean, harmless in the right hands,” Kire pointed out. She rubbed the palm of her hand. “I’ve wondered that for a while. It makes sense. And yes, it would be very useful in this case. I’ve fought with Ikegai’s dolls and illusions so often I have a sense for them now, so magic like that would leave a strong imprint, especially since I’m already in close contact with you. Make sure it’s a strong memory, enough of me to get a sense of you, too. Let’s leave out going back to Ziad.” She thought about the Gemini wearing her knife. Why? It bothered her, his presence there. Someone this young, carrying out blood magic rituals? Even by Amrian standards, he looked too green to be proficient in the kind of magic Ikegai and his former Gemini teachers had.

“There was one other thing I found useful for tracking them. The gems used in the dolls. I kept the one from the dead Kartaian doll from Ziad. I had a gem from one of his failed dolls back in Amria when I first arrived, and while it didn’t display any magical traces while it had been in my possession, when I got closer to the other doll the two gems called to each other. Though that wouldn’t be too stealthy, given that it goes both ways, and it would be more useful as a way to find other dolls.” Kire sighed.

“Alright. I agree to the use of that Touch. If you’re able to get back your former proficiency and we get Ysaryn to provide us with details, we’ll make arrangements for this plan. Worse comes to worst, I could show them my real face. That should give them a jolt.” She smirked a little at that, then went thoughtful again. “Are you absolutely sure about this? This is very, very dangerous. I’m usually the one rushing into something incredibly stupid. I know I said you’re too stubborn to die so easily, but this is pushing it.”

--

Gavin had a busy day full of the mundane tasks one expected when dealing with a royal wedding. Though, he had never been to a royal wedding, or experienced anything of a nobleman’s life before. He felt worn out, spread thin—more so than usual. The part of him that stayed at the back of his mind, whose voice was drowned out by Ikegai’s imperative, knew the source of this emptiness. That part of him screamed that everything about this was wrong, that what he was doing was wrong, but it was never as strong as Ikegai’s voice, in the guise of Akuma’s soothing tone, that this was his destiny. He didn’t belong to this world. He had a home, a people, and if he wanted to find them, he would do as Ikegai told him to do. And so, he was here, a blood mage’s apprentice. And yet…

He washed his face in the porcelain basin of his quarters, then looked at the gaunt expression in the mirror. Like staring at a stranger’s face. He didn’t understand the emotion people felt at the procession. Why was everyone so joyful, so gods-be-damned happy? Gavin rubbed his face, mussed up the hair that had been slicked back. That was more like him, like he used to be, but even then something felt false about it. Something disturbed him, had been disturbing him, for a few days now, and that voice that stayed locked away had grown a little stronger.

A few days ago, he had been sent to the ruins of Ziad to investigate what had happened to the first Kartaian scouts. After a while of searching, he saw the bodies. Gruesomely executed. This woman, this hunter, was strong. An executioner from another world, Ikegai had told him. This is what awaits you in that world. Misunderstanding. Hatred. Distrust. It was then that he found the hunting knife. When he touched it, he felt—strange. When he had first met Akuma, there was an otherworldliness to her that called to him, and he knew, even as she sank her hooks into his mind, that she wasn’t from this world. So was her master. The caravan to which he had been sold as a young boy had been on the way to Ziad when the attack had happened. His cruel master was killed. So were the others in the caravan. And yet, Akuma and her master spared him, for the same reason he had been drawn to them, himself. Like called to like.

But this knife. Gavin had asked to keep it. Said that he would one day bury it in the hunter’s neck. Akuma let him have it, and she—meaning, Ikegai, too—seemed to like the idea. But every night he would hold the knife, observe the craftsmanship. Etched into the handle was a dragon winding around it. Gavin would trace the snaking body. Though it was a hunting knife, something about its make gave him the impression of something made with care. And something about the faint aura that had stayed behind, the aura of its owner, the hunter—he didn’t know why he was so disturbed by it. He had formed an image of the hunter in his mind from what Ikegai and Akuma had told him. A twisted version of Akuma. And yet…

Gavin dropped the knife, sank onto the floor, cradling his head. He hadn’t had a night of confusion this bad since the beginning of his time with Akuma and Ikegai. His head throbbed. Images of the elves they had captured and mutilated flashed in his mind, and that voice screamed with each face that flashed in his thoughts. He took the knife, aimed the point to his neck, his hands trembling. This wasn’t the first time he had done this, either. But it had been weeks since he had last had the impulse. Why did it come back now?

Calm down, sweet child.

The voice soothed him, made him drop the knife, and he stared at his expression in the mirror again. His eyes stared back, empty.

They each lowered their heads in agreement when Kire pointed out it was harmless in the right hands. Undoubtedly true, considering what each of them were able to do, and had once done before they'd traded hostile lives for peaceful ones. Ruli glanced to Envy, who glanced back. Or tried. The elf instead looked to the wall just over Ruli's left ear, but at least he was close and Ruli took it as a reassuring glance.
As Kire asked for it to be a strong memory, Ruli froze, trying to sort through the endless stream of memories in his head to find one that would be appropriate. Good. Personal.

"So." Envy said thoughtfully, looking toward Kire again. "These gems call to one another when in close proximity. Would that not, when you come into close proximity with any dolls that have them implanted, alert them to your presence as well?" He shook his head. "I dislike that idea, too, though not as much." He cast another look at Rulitus, who was still lost in thought.

So much so, that he didn't hear Kire's question at first. "Ruli." Envy said, pulling him from his labyrinth of thoughts.
"Hm?" He glanced up, peering from Envy's pinkish eyes to Kire's unnatural grey ones. He froze, retracing what he'd heard. "Oh. Yeah, I'm sure. Too stubborn to die but also too stupid to avoid danger like this. I've had my fair share."
Envy inhaled, looking displeased, but offered no further comment on the matter. "Ruli, go and collect Ysaryn. Bring her back here. And Zeke, please. Don't leave him stranded."
Ruli twitched an eyebrow, silently remarking that he was glad Envy had specified, before he rose and left the chamber.
The moment they were alone, Envy turned toward Kire. "Bring him back." He whispered, pleading. "I know you have a long list of promises made to us, and none of them I will hold you to, save this. Bring him back to me."

Kire frowned when it seemed Ruli hadn’t been listening, so his response to her question didn’t particularly reassure her. Was this how everyone else feels when I tell them I’m about to do something terribly dangerous? Her gaze followed Ruli as he left the chamber, leaving her with Envy. She turned to him when he spoke softly to her, and she could feel the fear and anguish in his voice. She knew it must be unfair to him; Ruli had only just come back, and here she was, conscripting his adopted son to a dangerous quest. Kire stood up, feeling the weight of this particular promise. “I promise. I will bring him back alive.” The rest of her sentiment she left in silence: Nobody else has to die for this, save for myself.

Envy lowered his head, accepting her promise. It should have made the ache in his chest lessen its grip, or made it easier for him to allow Ruli to leave his chamber. But it didn't. He felt the absence of his cherished family member more than he missed his eyesight.
"Go prepare, then." He instructed, a gentle dismissal.

Ruli returned with Zeke and Ysaryn hardly five minutes later. Zeke was pink in the cheeks thanks to the sun, while Ysaryn looked a shade paler, like her skin bleached in the sunlight. As Zeke limped away at once, Ysaryn glanced from Ruli to Kire before offering her an uneasy grin. She could tell something was up, and had no luck getting the blond to open his mouth.
Her fuchsia eyes searched Kire's expression. "You find them?" The elf asked.

Kire was waiting for their return outside of Envy’s chamber. She offered a small smile back to Ysaryn’s uneasy one. “I’ll see you after your preparations,” she said to Ruli, before stepping forward towards the elf, twisting off the silver ring. “Let’s talk somewhere with fresh air, if you don’t mind.” She walked out towards the passage that led out the kitchen, finding a spot close enough that was in the cooler shade. She sat down and leaned against the tree trunk. “Yes. We found them, save for the master who made the dolls. But we found the young man with green eyes. And Itallo, he’s going to marry the woman who stole my face. We don’t know why yet, but it can’t be anything good.”

She paused to let the information sink in for Ysaryn before continuing. “We also found the place they may have taken you. But they’re in the middle of destroying it and moving somewhere else. It seems, too, that they have a half-elf helping them, though Rulitus thinks he isn’t there by choice.” She looked at Ysaryn. “We’re going to hunt down the place where they’re taking the elves and hope Ikegai is there. Rulitus will be using himself as bait, while I keep close watch and track him. For that, we need as much information as we could get. Could you tell me what happened, the day you were taken? When it happened, how, and how you escaped. What else you know about Itallo and the slavers.” Kire looked into her pink eyes. “You asked me if I was here to hunt or to help. In order to hunt, we need you.”

Ruli pressed his lips thin, then nodded as he stepped past Kire and into Envy's chamber, looking a little nervous.
Ysaryn mirrored that expression shortly before she blinked and it was gone. Her chieftess instincts took over, erasing all emotion from her face as she bowed her head in agreement and followed Kire out. As Kire sat against a tree, Ysaryn remained standing, her long braid swaying slightly.

As Kire delivered the news, Ysaryn's mask cracked and concern was written on her countenance, her brow furrowing as she gazed down at Kire. Taking everything in. The tone of her voice, her body language, the words she chose. Instinctively, the elf twisted, glancing behind them to make sure they were not overheard.
When Kire made her request, the mask flickered back into place, giving away none of Ysaryn's thoughts. Not until Kire said they needed her in order to hunt, and Ysaryn's lips pulled down into a subtle frown.

Her braid lay on the ground behind her as she crouched, folding her arms over her knees. "It is hard." She stated. "Much is erased, thanks to the drugs. What else, I try not to recall." Ysaryn admitted.
And she fell silent for a long time.

"I was out in the morning. Just before the sun. In the shore to dig for clams." Her eyes moved along the ground, remembering the morning, trying to sort through the pieces. "Hard to sneak up." Ysaryn admitted, gesturing to her ears. "I heard no one. But suddenly, everything went black. I was cold. Wet. I think I fell onto the sand. And then, nothing. Just black."

Ysaryn inhaled. "I woke in a cage. Iron bar." Ysaryn pinched her index and thumb to portray how much space was between the bars, little more than an inch and a half. "Cramped. Bruised. Half .... half dressed." Ysaryn shuddered. "Everywhere, more cages. More elves. Many female." The elf glanced toward Kire, her expression saying more. Abused. Violated. Inspected like meat. Humiliated.
She inhaled, looking away again. "Days. Weeks. I did not know. Bolym says little more than week, but felt like more. Man with green eyes, I see him a few times. Haze of drug. Never sure what he does. The females, they shrink away from him. He is frightening. Empty. Nothingness. A few times, I wake on table, strapped down. Naked. Untouched, but ... pain. I recall pain. I do not know why. How. I began to shrink from him, too. Every time he appear, I see his eyes, I remember pain."

Another deep breath, the elf calming her nerves. "Then I wake up on table again. Straps. And pain. Alot of pain. Green eyes, and old man, standing over me. Knife held." Ysaryn raised her hand to show how the blade was held; like someone would hold a knife while cutting meat. "Mind clear enough for me to fight. Like, drug they give not enough. Or my body knew to fight. I do not know. But I fought. And bled. Is blur. So much at once. I think I got knife. Cut straps. Cut one of them. Man, maybe. Green eyes barely reacted. I did not stay to look. I fled. And bled."
She licked her lips. "Underground. All dark. The smell. Like rot. Wet dirt. Stale air. Hear water, but no find. I hear weeping, too. Females. Crying in fear and pain. I search for way out, and find a door open. Unguarded. And I do not believe my luck. I run through. Find surface. Escape more men. More knives. And then." Ysaryn inhaled. "Bolym." She grinned, recalling the relief that flooded her when she saw his face, when he had flown forward to defend her, to get her away. "I slept for three days. Woke up home. Recall it is like a nightmare." She turned her eyes toward Kire again. "I left them all there. My people. My females. Like a coward, I run."

"I not see Itallo. But elves know he is the hand that pulls the men's leashes. Makes them take us. He takes coin for our flesh. Green eyes, you Gem-men-ai, I not know what he did. Not until you story of gem." Her eyes dropped to Kire's abdomen, where Kire had stated she had a matching scar. "I do not know why pain. When I see him. Why I was to be cut into, and not ... to sell." A shudder swam through her. "We never know how they take us. How they get us out of the city. No ship. No boat. Not in Cordon. Never see our kind in the city. They have a way out we do not know."

Kire could see this was difficult for her, as it had been the first time she told this story. She let Ysaryn get it all out, silently noting the details. The part about her capture concerned her. Drugged? From a distance? There were instances back in Amria of that. People, women, disappearing, right around the area where she would later discover Ikegai had been hiding. Ysaryn’s experience sounded like it. She swallowed the well of anger.

“He’s looking for bodies with magical potential. My enemy, he’s been cutting up people for a while now. Trying out which bodies fit with his dollmaking. Female bodies, maybe it has something to do with Akuma too. Finding suitable dolls to make more of her. Maybe it’s because the gems work better when you put them in the womb.” Kire frowned. How likely would they be to take Ruli?

“You’re not a coward. You can’t be blamed for finding a way to survive. And if you hadn’t run, you can’t help them.” She paused, thinking about that detail. The unguarded door. “Did you see somebody, tall, pale with blue-tinged skin, someone who could be a half-Kartaian? Rulitus thinks this person might have let you escape. Your luck would make sense then.”

Underground. How? A way out, not by boat or ship. Kire didn’t like this at all. “I suppose Ruli and I will find out the hard way how they're transporting you."

Ysaryn fell quiet, her expression dark, pulling her lips together in a vain attempt to cover the darkness that haunted her mind. "No." She answered. "I saw no one like that. No one but you Gem-men-ai and old man. But if he did help, I owe him much." She recalled the memory, regardless, trying to see a figure in the dark, anyone or anything that would have been near the door. There had been nothing but blurred shapes in the darkness, boulders, pillars, crates. If there had been someone else there, someone helping her, they had hidden themselves.

"If I can, I would like to go." Ysaryn said after a long silence. "My people are in there. I cannot leave them again." She turned her head back to Kire. "I need to. This hunt. This one is mine, also. It is my people they take and sell, my people they hunt down to cut open. To make dolls. You cannot deny me this, Kirai."

Kire fell silent when Ysaryn told her she wanted to come. She gave the elf woman a measured look. The resolve was there, certainly. “I was wondering if you would ask that,” she finally said. She understood, to a degree, how Ysaryn felt. “I won’t say no to you coming along; I had considered your involvement, or your people’s. But stealthier is better, as had been pointed out to me. Bolym, however, must come with us, too.”

She wondered at one other detail that Ysaryn spoke of. The Gemini didn’t stop her? Was it because he didn’t care if one elf escaped? Why? She recalled how the young man looked. The emptiness, the nothing Ysaryn spoke of—Kire could see it. “Tomorrow, Itallo weds Akuma, the doll. We’re wondering if this wedding is a mask for something else, too. We are hoping we would find the hiding place soon, before anything worse happens.”

Kire stood. “Have you eaten? Thinking about impending battle always makes me hungry.” She offered a small smile before turning solemn again. . “We’ll find their hiding place. And we’ll get them out, if we can.”

Ysaryn inhaled as Kire agreed, even if Bolym joining was a requirement. Not that Ysaryn had an issue with the male, but after he'd patched her up and gotten her home from her last narrow escape, returning felt like an insult.
No, he was a warrior. He would understand the need to go back. To get their people out. Ysaryn looked back toward the stream, silent.

"No, I am not hungry." Ysaryn answered with a simple shake of her head. Her braid dragged in the dirt behind her with the motion. "I will not go far. Find me when ready." Ysaryn said, remaining in her crouch. Then, slowly, she tilted her head and glanced back toward Kire. "Where is Rulitus? I should ask him a favour."

Kire nodded at her response, then raised a brow, curious at the favor she was talking about. “He should be with Envy right now, preparing for tomorrow. I’ll go find you when we’re ready, then.” She nodded once, then went back to the kitchen, putting together a simple meal from leftovers. Though she did know that it was a terrible idea and that Envy was right, she spent the meal imagining the many ways she would dispose of Akuma and Itallo in front of their guests. Kire sighed. Even this wasn’t satisfying, not without Ikegai in the picture. And not without finding out why this Gemini is here.

That doll. Rulitus was right, of course, and Kire knew this, that she wasn’t real. An image of her another man had built up in his mind and poisoned. Rather than a beating heart, Akuma had a gem. Kire rubbed her face, feeling the contours, the scar. But that evil, she had gotten that from me. A twisted version of her, but a version of her, nonetheless. Ikegai knew that. He had merely drawn out the darkness that already existed deep within Kire and gave it form, a deadly beauty. “Pulls yourself together, Kay,” she muttered, finishing her meager supper before going to Rulitus and Envy.

Ysaryn nodded once, and let Kire wander off while she remained in her crouch, staring at the water. When Kire was in the kitchen, Ysaryn rose and followed, passing through silently as she went to seek out Ruli.
She found him sitting in Envy's chamber, the two of them facing one another, hands locked in some eternal handshake, both gazing off to the side without really seeing. With a frown, she studied the two of them, curious, before she cleared her throat.

Envy was the first to turn his head, while it appeared to take Ruli a moment to notice her interruption.
"What?" Asked the blond.
Ysaryn raised her eyebrows. "I want to ask you a favour, if you have a moment."

Envy glanced at Ruli, now curious himself, while the blond rose and followed her out. When they were gone, Envy rose and followed a few steps, standing just beyond the enchantment that kept the sound out. He noticed Kire instead, catching her scent and hearing her steps as she approached. Beyond her, the moment she'd stepped far enough away to be out of earshot, Ysaryn broke into a rather somber request that had Envy raise a finger to his lips and beckon Kire into his chamber. He took a half a step back, placing himself in the middle of the enchantment so he could eavesdrop while, with a turn of his head, speak to Kire.
"Has she agreed?" Envy asked, his face turned into his room, while his good ear was pointed toward the duo. "Oh. Nevermind. I hear she has." Envy blinked, then furrowed his brow. "Oh." He blinked again, then he swept completely into his room, smiling approvingly.
He took his seat again, face turned toward Kire. "She's asked him for an enchantment of her own." Envy filled Kire in.

"I knew you were listening." Ruli snapped as he stepped back inside, his face flushed.
"I had forgotten how smooth you could be." Envy said, and Ruli's face coloured even deeper.
"There's nothing wrong with her face." Ruli stated defensively, then he faltered, looking at Kire. "I mean. Society is the problem, in her case. Y-your face, its the problem. I mean, its not your face, its Aku-"
"Forget what I said about being smooth." Envy interrupted, and Ruli fell silent, defeated. After a moment of standing in place, he reclaimed his seat, not speaking to either of them. It made Envy grin. "I could almost feel the heat in her cheeks, my boy."
"Shut up." Ruli snarled in the common tongue before he grabbed Envy's hand again and went back to practicing.

Kire was about to answer Envy when he interrupted, and she realized he was listening in on Ysaryn and Ruli. As much as she knew it was intrusive, Kire itched to know what it was. She frowned as Ruli entered and Envy teased him. “You mean, women actually find him charming?” she asked, shaking her head. She wanted to demand more details, but seeing them return to practicing, Kire sighed and turned away. She’d find out later, anyway.

She disappeared, later appearing with her armor in tow, setting it aside for later. Needing to keep herself occupied, she went about whatever tasks needed doing for the refugees, preparing firewood and replenishing their stores, coming back by evening. After another quick meal, she went off again to run drills by herself, partly hoping too that sword practice would mean she’d at least sleep earlier, rather than stew in her thoughts all night. She went back into the caverns after cleaning herself up, wondering how Rulitus’s practice had fared.

Ysaryn vanished after her discussion with Ruli, returning to the city in order to insist Bolym join her. She gave no details, but he couldn't refuse her, and the two returned to the mountains and set about in a light sparring session outside, to prepare without exhausting themselves.

It wasn't until after dinner that Ruli and Envy finished, the former wandering to the bedrolls to claim a small nap while Envy loitered in the kitchen until Sid handed over a bit of roast bird and sent him away again. In the dim light of the early evening, he sat outside the kitchen, listening to Ysaryn and Bolym fight, -sometimes sparring, sometimes arguing-, and took the moment to enjoy another of his cigarettes. As Kire passed him, the elf turned his head. "He'll be ready." Envy said without provocation. "He's in a bit of a mood, but give him an hour's sleep, at least, and he'll be tolerable again."
He set the cigarette between his lips and inhaled slowly, but controlled, trying not to burn through his vice too quickly. "And you? Are you ready?" A guarded question, as the elf knew one could never fully prepare for such a thing.

Kire spotted Envy, who seemed to have read her mind, and huffed, sitting on the opposite side of the entrance to the kitchen. “He’s always in a bit of a mood—but alright. Enchanting something for Ysaryn would mean he’ll be staying up late too, right? I suppose he needs more than an hour.” She looked at Envy as he smoked, pondering on his question. “It’s hard to be ready for something so unpredictable. But I’ve always been just right behind him. Probably because I always went on the hunt alone, and was only learning to use the power I had been given.”

She sighed, lacing her fingers together behind her head as she leaned back. “I’m so close. Whether I’m ready or not, I’m finishing it.” She looked at the cigarette in his hand. “I have a cousin who loves to smoke. You’d probably enjoy her company. And I have a giantess friend, around your size.” She smiled, picturing the friends she had back home, before sinking into thought. “Can I tell you something?” she asked, looking sidelong at him.

“Ysaryn calls me ‘Chieftess’. Because that’s what I am—what I used to be back home. You have kings and queens here, but back home there are little kings and queens who answer to me.” She sighed. “I was what they would call the Empress of Amria. Under my crown and my House are many kingdoms in a whole continent, and other smaller realms throughout the world. Not all of it, but it is a sizeable empire. But in no small part because of Ikegai and my hunt for him, I failed to see my empire slowly being undermined. And I lost it. I had to take my family and run while the Gemini took the Capital. That’s why I haven’t resumed the hunt for six months. I’m a ruler in exile, and my mistakes had played a large part in my fall. We’ve managed to beat back some of their forces and now we’re on a stalemate of sorts.”

She closed her eyes, sighing. “So believe me, even if I die trying, I will finish this hunt. Set to right at least one thing in my long list of debts.”

"I don't think he's enchanting anything for her." Envy responded. "He declined, from what I heard." He blew out a steady steam of gentle white smoke. When Kire mentioned a cousin who smoked and would be company the elf would enjoy, he turned toward her. He wondered about the sort of woman who would enjoy a Kartaian as a smoking buddy. But the giantess friend? Envy wondered what she looked like, not that he'd ever get a look of his own.

He bent his head in a silent nod as she asked about confessing something. And while her words were not quite what he expected, Envy showed no surprise on his face. An empress who lost her throne do to the very enemies she chased. So this was more than personal. This was a necessary justice. "Do they need space to sleep?" Envy asked, wondering. "I recall you mentioning your family before, if you'd like them to come here, we would find room. You'd know they're safe." Envy turned his head to give her a soft smile. "You're helped us enough. And a few more able hands wouldn't be frowned upon. Unless your family is not as willing to get their hands dirty as you are. It won't be a requirement that they punch trees to pieces." The Kartaian added with amusement.

Sobering, he sighed. "We have all been displaced and left without a home, then. I understand, now, your need to help us as much as you have. Anything more we can do in exchange, Empress Kire, let us know."

Kire’s face scrunched up. “Well, for starters, please no ‘Empress Kire’. Now that I’ve introduced myself without all that formality, it’s just strange to hear me addressed like that. Besides,” she huffed, staring out at the forest beyond them, “it’s not like I have a throne to sit on at the moment. Or that I should even be sitting on it, should we win it back.” She pondered on his offer. “That’s very generous of you. Maybe for a visit. But we do have a home, of sorts. We’ve made some strongholds around the empire that serve as our bases. I move between them often, while most of my family stays in the northernmost region, ruled by one of my cousins.” She paused, smiling. “You’d love my little cousins, though. They’re quite cross with me lately because they don’t get to see me as much.” She sighed. “I would love them all to be safe, though. If things don’t go as planned—we lose more ground, gods forbid, or I lose all of my influence—maybe I could consider bringing them here. Though, so far, bringing people from my world to yours has just led to calamity.”

She sank into silence, looking out at the stream, the forests, wishing she could just stay in this peaceful space, and that all the rest of them—Ikegai, Akuma, the Gemini, Itallo—could just get swallowed up by the ground. “I’m sorry. For dragging Ruli into this.”

Envy chuckled. "Risa does not have a throne to sit on, either, and has not softened her edges one bit." Envy shook his head, listening as Kire explained about the strongholds and her cousins. "They all sound like they would have excellent stories to tell." Envy complimented, admittedly curious about the smoking cousin. And, if he were being completely honest, the giantess friend.

"Ruli would have gotten himself mixed in sooner or later." Envy answered forgiving. "You met him in Ziad. My bet is that he was waiting for an enemy to return so he could follow them, pick a fight, and get himself killed. With you intercepting, he at least stands a chance." Envy pointed out. "He's always been the type to bite first, listen later. So, really, I should be thanking you. We've lost enough. Losing one of my closest and oldest friends would have been the straw that broke the sand-horse's back."

He turned his face toward Kire again. "You won't fail. I have known you for only a short time, if I can even claim to know you at all, but I know you are relentless. Just as he is. Together, you'll succeed, or you'll take everything else down with you."

My bet is that he was waiting for an enemy to return so he could follow them, pick a fight, and get himself killed, Envy said. “Good gods,” Kire muttered under her breath, shaking her head a little with a smirk. “That sounds too familiar. What in the world is a sand-horse, though?” She chuckled softly, before looking sidelong at him. He had so much faith in her, despite having only known her for a few days. It was different from all the other expectations she had known all throughout her life: different from the weight of a crown, of Wyvern birthright, of divine expectation that came with the Ring. “Relentless, huh?” She smiled at that. She stayed silent there, somehow finding Envy’s presence alone comforting, as she looked out at the surrounding forests again. They would make a good home out of this yet, she was certain of that. After a while she stood with a grunt. “Alright. I had better rest a little as well. If Ruli wakes before I do, could you tell him to find me?”